Selling Slumps, How to Pull Out Before You Crash and Burn – Tip 4

It matters very little whether you are a selling rookie or a seasoned professional, sooner or later, you will find yourself mired in a selling slump. There are a number of actions you can take to shorten the duration of the slump, lessen the financial impact, and reduce the emotional drain that a slump can cause you.

This is ‘Tip 4’ in a series.

Selling slumps are as perennial as the seasons but they don’t need to destroy your career. Understand that they are part of the marketplace and they always will be. They are caused by a variety of factors but always keep in mind that you didn’t just wake up ‘dumb’ one morning. When you understand that fact, it will be easier to recognize that the situation is temporary. In old writings authors often used the term, “it came to pass”. They didn’t use the term, “it came to stay”.

Tip #4: Develop empathy so you are able to transition from trying to convince your prospect to problem-solve for him or her. Many salespeople feel that they must convince prospects to buy their product or service offer. The truth is that people will ultimately choose to buy what they feel they want, need, and can afford. If your product or service has sufficient benefits, the customer will choose to buy from you.

To easily allow the sale to develop you will need to come from a position of empathy where you allow yourself to discover the underlying buying motives of your prospect. Once you have identified these triggers, rather than going into ‘convince mode’ try involving your customer and focus on ‘revealing’ the benefits the customer will enjoy when he or she takes ownership of your product or service. It can tip the scales in your favor if you are able to reveal a particular extra benefit that the prospect wasn’t expecting. Layered benefits increase value and reduce price resistance.

When salespeople spend their time ‘convincing’ they are often seen as pressure. When they are ‘revealing’ benefits, they are seen as helpful and the prospect is much more likely to make a positive buying decision.


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