The Sales Advantage

The Sales Advantage offers a practical guide to acquiring customers, closing sales, and increasing profits by following a series of proven techniques from a corporate coaching course about sales procedures.

A good salesman knows that a good pitch starts before one even dials the number, so a pre-approach strategy is crucial. To avoid having your prospect cut you off within the first seconds of your phone call, you may want to change your introduction.

Instead of talking about your product features straight away, start with addressing your prospect by their name or preferred alias. Knowing your potential customer well before you introduce yourself can help them familiarize themselves with you more easily.

When you’ve established a connection, present your interlocutor with the solution you’re offering. Rather than pitching a product, try to promote a solution to their struggle. Be specific when talking about ways through which they can benefit from your offering.

Next, address the competition, and place yourself above them. What is it that makes you better and should make the person choose your product? The last step is to find out if the prospect is the decision-maker in the company, or if they can redirect you towards that person.

To strengthen your pitch, you’ll want to know your prospect well before you establish a connection with them. As part of the pre-approach strategy, learning their name and some basic characteristics, such as their occupation, is essential. Then, you’ll want to focus on empowering your offering.

You can do so by referring to other satisfied customers that have previously purchased from you. In general, adding statistics and linking your offering to the initial part of your pitch, which is the solution you’re offering, is a great idea.

For example, you could start by addressing their name, then saying that you’ve previously offered your product to a company just like theirs. Continue with saying that they benefited from it by, let’s say, increasing their sales by 30%. Add a number to your pitch to make it more valuable, and always have a happy customer to link to.

Commit to following up with your prospect by arranging a future date and a location, or by scheduling another phone call. End on a friendly note, making it clear that you’re ready to address all their needs in the following session. Always remember their name and if you want to compliment them or make a joke, make sure to not be generic and use your pre-approach information about them to do it.

So, let’s say you‘ve reached the point where your prospects took up your offer and accepted to meet with you. Now what? Essentially, showing up to the meeting just a bit…