Engageware is dedicated to helping our customers engage with their prospects and customers to drive more business. That’s why we’re always trying to provide insights to sales teams about how they can use Engageware—especially Scheduler, our solution for Salesforce users—to create more conversations that lead to more sales.
Now, we’re going to take a slightly different tack in the way we provide ideas to help sales professionals can be more successful.
Recently, Randy Bernard joined Engageware as vice president of sales. Not only is Randy an experienced sales leader with a great track record of success, he also coauthored the best-selling book The Pocket Guide for Sales Survival with Jason DeAmato.
The book, which hit #1 on Amazon.com, contains “161 Vital Rules for Selling Anything to Anyone, Anywhere.” The rules are organized for beginner, intermediate, advanced and expert salespeople. Now, this isn’t an ad to make you run out and buy a copy of the book (although I’m sure Randy and Jason would like that).
Each week, the Engageware blog is going post a pair of these terrific tips—in random order, just to spice things up—to help sales pros at any point in their career working at any type of business gain new perspectives on the tough but rewarding career they’re chosen. As the authors point out, sales people at every level of experience can benefit from any of the rules, so we might pair a beginner rule with an expert one and see what happens!
We hope you find value in the tips (we’re pretty sure you will) and have a laugh along the way with the clever, breezy style in which they’re written. So, let’s get started:
Rule 19: Smile
Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?
Saddened by something horrible in the news?
Run out of gas on the highway?
Smile. Like a lot of things in life…it’s free!
When it comes to selling…
Lose a deal at the last minute?
News leads are not quite what you expected?
Just missed bonus this month?
Smile…
It’s guaranteed to make you, and your prospect, happier.
When you’re meeting someone in person, be personable, warm and friendly.
Even when you’re on the phone, don’t forget to smile. You better believe your prospect will be able to hear the difference.
Smile and dial, baby!
Rule 92: Dig Into Questions
Two customers ask the same question: How much does your product cost?
Your knee-jerk response is probably to answer their question with a dollar amount. But hold on a second…. Let’s think about this.
Do you even know if they’re both asking the question for the same reason? What if one wants the most affordable price, while the other wants to spend top dollar for a top product because the last time they bought a cheap one, they weren’t happy?
The only way you can know for sure is by turning the conversation around and asking them. “That’s a great question! Why do you ask?” Try it. You’ll be surprised at the answers you get—and even more surprised by how helpful the information is.
You may think asking questions is enough. But dig into the motivation behind those questions. Now you’re really getting useful information.