Get out from the office and sell face to face
One of the things so many local businesses ask me is.. “can you give me any tips on selling face to face?”. I know that this site is more on ways to build a business online rather than offline, but those of you who may be thinking of starting a marketing company or a mobile app business may need to eventually step out from behind a computer screen and interact with a client…The following are my top 5 tips when trying to sell a product or service face to face.
1: Ask Questions
The most important thing you need to do from the get-go is to ask questions. When I say ask questions I don’t mean ones with a yes or no answer either. I mean questions that mean the client has to talk in depth. ie: open-ended questions like. “Why are you interested in this service?” or “what types of products have you used already?” by asking open-ended questions you are 1: building rapport and 2: finding out why the client may be interested in your product or service.
2: let them do the talking.
The worst thing you can do when selling face to face is to keep on banging on about your product. People like to talk about themselves and if you don’t let them talk you will upset them. Remember you are trying to find out as much information as you can from your client, which you can use to make the sale. Think of it like a spotlight. If the spotlight is on you then you are NOT selling. if it is on them you ARE selling..The trouble with selling face to face is that we all (me included) get excited about our product and waffle on about it. Next time you catch yourself doing it SHUT UP and ask an open question.
3: Mimic their body language
It has been shown time and time again that humans form a bond with people who mimic their body language. It makes us feel at ease with that person and therefore trust them more. If you find yourself with a client who slouches then.. Slouch. If you find someone who stands up straight with folded arms then do the same. It sounds daft but this stuff really does work.
4: Do them a favour.
People have an overwhelming response to someone doing them a favour. The response is that we have to repay the favour back. By doing something simple for someone for free the chances are that further along the line when you ask for the sale the client is more likely to say yes.
5: People buy to the right
There have been studies done that reveal most people buy to the right. Therfore you will want to place yourself to the right of the person when asking for the sale. You should also put any offers or products you want them to buy on the right hand side of the paper.
Face to face selling tips round-up
When trying to sell face to face try and use some of these simple tips and don’t be too scared of long silences. Ask questions and above all let them talk and talk. It sounds strange but the actual art of selling face to face is not to SELL your product but to actually find out why the person may want your product or service. By digging deep you will find clues to guide you on how to sell and using what stimulus.
A lot of the content in this post I found out while reading some great books on the subject of selling and other information I have picked up from seminars and courses. Below are a list of some of the books that I would recommend to everyone who is looking at starting a business or who would like to learn the art of selling face to face.
The Phycology of Selling by Brian Tracy
Unselling by Peter Bourke
You can’t teach a kid to ride a bike at a seminar by David H Sandler
I hope you have enjoyed my article on How to sell face to face and I really do suggest you try some of these out, because from experience I can tell you that they do work. Please drop me a comment or share this article if you found it helpful. Thanks for reading.
Pete.
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