Sales Tips
 

If you've got sales tips (not just for adult, mainstream as well), post them here. Here are a few of mine just so that I'm not leeching knowledge.

- Send a gift or follow-up communication (depending on the size of the purchase) to your clients to attract referral clients from that customer. It could be something as small as a note of thanks (or e-mail...personalized of course) to something as large as an expensive bottle of champagne. It all depends on what amount of revenue you're making from that client.

- This is an often overlooked tip for face-to-face sales. I can't tell you how often I've been in a situation where someone was "selling me" on an idea/concept/product but didn't look me in the eyes. LOOK PEOPLE IN THE EYES IF YOU'RE SELLING THEM. If you don't, it cries "unconfident, shady, etc.."

- For the love of god, if you're shaking a (male) client's hand, do it with some force and not like you belong on Queer Eye.

- Call people by their formal name (Mr. so and so, Mrs. so and so) unless : they specifically ask you to call them by their first name or if you ask them "Can I call you, Joe?" and they agree.

Alright, some of these are common sense but you'd be surprised how many "salespeople" don't do these simple things. Would love to hear some other tips.

Being one of the top salespeople in my company, I'll give you a few tips:

Start off with an ice breaker, build rapport with the prospect, an okay ice breaker is better than no ice breaker. An ice breaker should be a simple question: "How are you doing today," or a question about something in their office or something they're wearing like- "are you a golf fan?" or "are you a red sox fan." Be sincere.

Control the conversation with questions, and listen intentively. All the best salespeople I know are good at asking questions and listening.

Be enthusiastic about what you're selling.

Use the "SEE" factors-
Smile
eye contact
enthusiasm

Know your product inside and out. (This is a must).

Selling is not telling. You should only be talking 25-30% of the time.

Continue to build rapport through the presentation, and maintain your enthusiasm.

Use trial closes (don't worry if you don't know what this is) and never quit after the first "no."

Two good sites to check out:
www.tomhopkins.com (the art of selling anything). This is the best sales program you'll find, but it teaches you how to be a very manipulative salesperson (just to warn you).

www.briantracy.com (psychology of selling). This one teaches you how to properly sell, and ethically sell.

Good luck!

lynch, you're a great help, thank you! :thumbsup