The new rules of selling require your salespeople to know and master old tactics, but to use them in a different way.

The new rules are:

• Sell what the customer desires or requires, not what you want them to buy.
• Get personal; collect as much information about your customer as possible and use it.
• Become a friend, because people will buy from their friends but don’t always trust salespeople.
• Concentrate on building strong relationships.
• Find things you and your customer have in common, and build on those similarities.
• Gain the trust of your customers.
• Have a great time, and have a great sense of humor.
• Don’t even look like you’re trying to sell.

Tough times

When times are tough, the new rules list expands to include the following:

• Protect your customers — competitors are targeting them.
• Compete on relationship, not on price. Then strengthen those relationships.
• Network like you’ve never networked before.
• Give your customers information they need and can’t get anywhere else — and not just information about your product or service, but valuable market intelligence.
• Make your decisions with your eye on where you want to be, not on your quota.
• Find ways to solve the problem. Don’t just complain.
• Make yourself different, impressive and memorable.
• Learn from rejection. Make more frequent cold calls and practice different ways of handling “no.” Soon you’ll find ways to turn “no” into “yes.”
• Put your goals in front of you and repeat them daily.
• Plan to take a series of simple, small, daily steps that will help you reach your big goal.
• Remember, it’s all about your attitude. Always be positive.

Setting goals

Write down your goals, and put them somewhere you’ll look every day. Get a pad of “Post-it notes,” and stick your goals on the bedroom mirror or on the bathroom mirror — anywhere you’ll see them often.

Remind yourself of these goals every day:

• Know the customer; understand what he or she wants and needs.
• Sell to serve, don’t sell to earn.
• Make your relationships long-term.
• Have faith in your company and your product or service.
• Prepare, and look like a professional.
• Build trust. Be candid. If you always speak truthfully, you’ll never have a problem keeping your story straight.
• Keep any promises you make.
• Sell to the right person, the one who calls the shots.
• Don’t speak negatively about your competitor.
• Know your product inside out.
• Pay close attention to signals that the prospect is ready to buy.
• Be ready for objections.
• Don’t blame other people — take responsibility.
• Make a strong, positive impression so people will remember you and speak well of you.

Adapted from “The Sales Bible,” by Jeffrey Gitomer

Tags: building strong relationships, new rules, selling, tactics