Stop banging Square pegs into round holes. Fix your sales performance by understanding your customers and in doing so you can plan your selling strategy effectively to win at selling.
How do you win at sales? Often this comes down to a key strategy of understanding the customer character types you will pitch and hopefully close the sale to.
You will not win every sale. You know that sales is a numbers game. You want to improve your success rate and want to know how. Are you new in your sales career? are you struggling to understand why your sales are not coming in?
For further reasons as to how you win at sales check my post How Do I Succeed in Sales
With Sales success rates at 21 out of every 100, you have to make sure that every pitch or presentation you do, counts. You might be one of the 55% that is not meeting their sales targets. You know how that feels. I have been there. You do not make the commissions you need. You come under the watchful eye of your sales manager and your self esteem is suffering.
Or worse, Your sales career is at risk and
You may be questioning yourself , “ Is Sales really for me?”
You struggle to understand, especially after that killer presentation, why the prospect did not sign up.
To give yourself a fighting chance in the sales arena you need to understand one clear thing. Not everyone you pitch is the same. Now this sounds simple to you, but hold on. My experience of sales, over a 40 year period, and in all types of industries, showed me that the vast majority of sales training follows similar tired and dated formats.
You will have been given a process to follow by your company. The format and way that they want you to carry out your selling activity. This is fine as a framework, but, as my experience taught, many training formats miss one key element.
Sure, I bet you have been taught to ‘Empathise’ with your prospect, and to ‘Find their pain points’ and show how your product or service ‘Solves’ those. However, the key element you need to factor in is Your prospects Character.
To improve your sales success rate you need to understand the actual character of the prospect you are pitching to. In getting to know them, or rather picking up on what they are, you will put the missing pieces together in your sales success puzzle.
Your First Important Task
Your task, upon meeting or speaking with your prospect is to pick up on the type of language, actions and general bearing they have.
Why are you listening and observing this? Because generally people you are selling to, fall into 4 main character traits.
- The Thinker
- The Doer
- The Brand Aware
- The Friend
Here is a skill you need to develop. Active Listening and Observation. Active listening and observing is so important in sales, and when you understand this, it will put you ahead of your rivals.
You need to be aware that if you try to sell, in the same way to each of these characters you will fail. Why? Because the pitch you use may only resonate with one of these character traits.
Your skill is in adapting and tailoring your pitch to match the trait. To do that you first need to understand what each one is.
The Thinker.
This person, by the name of the category is that. A Thinker. This individual will listen carefully to what you say. They will digest your information. Your pitch needs to have
- Facts
- Figures
- Testimonials
- Social Proof
- Technical Background.
Your pitch will feel uncomfortable. This is because the Thinker, is listening, digesting and THINKING about your offer. You can not rush them, nor should you fill any quiet gaps when you see they are pondering over what you have said.
To identify a thinker, listen for phrases such as
“I need to think about this” “let me just digest that” “can I see if I have thought this correctly….”
Often, when you ask for the business, a thinker will tell you that they need more time. This is fine. These prospects are usually sold to on the second or third follow up to a presentation, and be prepared in your initial follow up for more questions to come.
The Doer
The Doer is someone who wants to get things moving. Quickly. They do not want to mess about with you. They want to hear what you have to say, in minimal time. They are busy.
They want your solution, here and now. You need to be prepared with your
- Pitch
- Facts
- Solutions
- Time of Implementation or Deliverables
The Doer will feel uncomfortable to sell to for the opposite reason to the ‘Thinker’ Fast paced, here and now, no wasting theirs or your time.
You will quickly recognise a Doer by their pace alone. Combine this with phrases like “ let’s get this done” or “ I’ve got 30 minutes before my next meet”
The Good News? The Doer will usually give you the decision there and then. Or put you in the line of someone that will, with their recommendation sign for you.
The Brand Aware
Do you play Golf? Do you have friends that drive BMW or Porsche? Do they have a top of the line Espresso Maker in the Kitchen?
If you do have friends that are like the above, chances are they are ‘Brand Aware’ If you ask them why they purchased the BMW, Nespresso etc they will normally have a justification as to why the item is the best. They feel good about their purchase, and will delight in backing up why they made the decision.
So, where does that help you. You need to get on your prospects wavelength. Demonstrate that your product or service is the best because…. Have your
- Facts
- Figures
- And importantly Quality relatable testimonials
Ready.
You almost want to massage the ego of your prospect here. Make them feel good about purchasing your brand. As an aside, The Brand Aware can be a great source for referrals and testimonials.. It is in their nature.
A top tip. When pitching a ‘Brand Aware’ never, never, criticise their choice of current product or service provider. They made that choice. Criticise the choice, you criticise them.
You will pick up on someone who is brand aware as they often throw in ‘Names’ of purchases. Further, take a look at them, and their environment. Again, are there clues. The best leather chair, a luxury watch, mention of their car brand, etc.
The Friend
Do you have someone that is always telling you about their day, their life, their problems? You will come across the same character when you sell. The Friend will be
- Welcoming
- Personable
- Will spend more time talking than you
- Great in engaging with you in conversation
Your sales meeting with a ‘Friend’ will be a stress free environment. You will give them a pitch, they will listen and ask questions. However, you need to be aware that the Friend
- Takes more time on pleasantries than you have to do your pitch
- You will end up rushing or trying to condense
- You may have frequent interruptions during the meeting
- The Friend rarely agrees to purchase on the first meeting.
- Nor the second follow up, or the third, the fourth….
The Friend is not a good decision maker. Something is always getting in the way of them agreeing to go ahead. For example, you call to follow up and the response will be
“ Oh, gosh Dave, so sorry, just not had time to get your info. Remember the Dog, well he swallowed the house keys. I tell you, Not only were we locked out, but the Vet fees. Why not give me a call next week, and we can catch up then”
Next week you call
“It’s the Boiler, Tabithas’ school shoes, The trash collectors “ etc
You get the picture.
The clue is in the first follow up with phrases like “ Let’s Catch up”
You keep following up. Why, because they are so nice, friendly and because of that you are sure they will buy. Eventually.
They don’t. You keep them in your sales pipeline. All that will happen is you will waste valuable time if after the 5th follow up they do not go ahead. (Sales can take up to 5 – 7 follow ups to be successful.)
Knowing your sales audience and their character traits will help you understand the route you need to take to be on the same wavelength.
Match your pitch style to the audience. Do not treat a Thinker in the same way as a Doer, and how long do you think you would last with a Doer, if you slow right down and build long pauses after each benefit explained?
Once you put these tips into action, you will stand more chance of closing the deals you need, by giving yourself that edge to earn the commissions you want.
For FREE information on sales challenges and what you can do to sell more and increase your income, head over to my page, You are Missing Sales by Missing the Basics