It is important to a customer that they feel you are knowledgeable about your product, your competition and their problem. Following are a few tips to becoming an expert:

SEEK KNOWLEDGE – To become an expert in your field, you need to seek knowledge at every opportunity. Talk to people in your industry who have experience. Research and read everything you can on your specific field – the internet makes this almost too easy these days. Become an expert on trends in your industry. Learn about technology that is changing business processes.

KNOWLEDGE GAPS – As much as you can become an expert in your field, you cannot know everything. If you do know everything – congrats, you can stop reading here. However if like the rest of us, you run into a question that you do not know the answer to, admit it. Promise to find the answer and get it to them shortly. Do NOT make up an answer or not answer at all. The customer needs to trust that you know what you are talking about and if you fib or prevaricate, then you run the risk of losing that trust.

KNOW YOUR LIMITS – It is always better to under-promise and over-deliver than the other way around. Some sales people think that their product/service can fix everything under the sun and then some, which is just not possible. Know your product, know your customer and determine their problem. Figure out if your product/service is a good fit for their issue. This can mean the difference between a repeat customer and years of partnership or one-time only sales and negative word of mouth.

KNOW YOUR DIFFERENCE – How is your product set apart from others on the basis of superior performance in one or more areas? Your ability to differentiate your product or service probably is one of the most important factors in the customer’s decision. Why should they use you instead of their current provider? Know your competition and their benefits as well as their downfalls.

KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER – Know your customers most common problems. When are they most likely to happen? What are the causes? What can be done to solve them? Make yourself valuable to them by becoming their problem solver for a specific set of issues and making their job easier.

Helping your customer by being their own personal expert in that field will help you to create repeat business and increased sales. If you are satisfied with where you are or think that you have nothing else to learn…well, you probably wouldn’t be reading this, would you? Instead, seek to be the best, strive for knowledge and try to become an expert in your own little corner of the world.

“Never become so much of an expert that you stop gaining expertise. View life as a continuous learning experience.”  Denis Waitley

This article was written by Tracie Gilbert, VP of Business Development at Cosmetic Promotions. For more information on Cosmetic Promotions, please check out their website www.cosproagency.com or contact Tracie direct at Tracie@cosmeticpromotions.com.

Now that you have brushed up on your Listening Skills, let’s explore how to get your customers talking. Usually the easiest way to do this is to ask an open ended question.

Open ended questions simply refer to questions that can’t be answered with a single word such as yes or no. Open ended questions inspire long answers, rather than just one or two words. In a sales setting, an open-ended question, rather than close-ended questions, can be especially beneficial.

Let’s examine a common sales mistake, you are calling a customer and trying to find out what feature(s) of your product will work best for them. Quite a few out there unfortunately have the bad habit of going through each feature individually and then asking the customer, “Does that sound good to you?” In this instance, they are doing most of the talking (instead of listening to what the customer needs), have wasted time that the customer may not have (resulting in irritation or abruptness) AND have now given the customer the option of saying “NO” (an unforgivable offense).

So what does a smart sales person that knows how to listen and is a problem solver, do instead?

A good start would be to ask the customer an open ended question. “What are you looking for in this product?” This allows you to find out what matters most to them and tailor your presentation to highlight only the features that matter to them. If your product matches or exceeds their every desire or fixes a specific problem they mentioned, then the customer is going to have a much harder time finding a reason to say no and instead has been given every reason to say “Yes!”

Everyone in this current economy is busier than ever and by eliminating the items in your pitch that do not matter at all to the customer and showing that you care about their problems and would like to help them solve them, you will be more successful in your sales attempts and thus, more successful in your business.

Now, the question is, what are you going to go do with this knowledge?

This article was written by Tracie Gilbert, VP of Business Development at Cosmetic Promotions. For more information on Cosmetic Promotions, please check out their website www.cosproagency.com or contact Tracie direct at Tracie@cosmeticpromotions.com.

Listening may seem like the easiest part of the sales call, however, this is the part where most sales people go wrong. Customers do not have the time or the patience these days to listen to sales pitch monologues blindly listing ALL of the benefits of a product or service. Instead, they are seeking solutions to problems they may have. It is up to you to get a conversation flowing, LISTEN to what they need, THEN to tell them how your product or service fills that need.

It’s been proven that people think faster than they listen. While a customer is talking at an average rate of 125 words a minute, the average salesperson is thinking at a much faster rate. Often we are thinking about what we will say and can miss completely what the customer is actually telling us. A sale can be easily lost if you miss a key point. Listening rather than talking in a sales situation is easier said than done though. Some people are born listeners; unfortunately, most of us are not. However, with some practice and patience, you can improve your listening skills:

•  Listening does not mean that you avoid talking at all in the conversation. Rather, it means that you take the time to absorb and understand what your customer is saying before you respond. This is how you discover the problem(s) so that you can provide a solution.

•  Questions are a vital part of listening. Don’t interrupt unnecessarily, but always ask questions to clarify things that you don’t understand completely. Again, successful sales are based on determining what a customer needs and providing solutions to these needs. Always focus your questions on moving toward a greater understanding of your customer’s needs.

•  Never interrupt the customer, even if you feel you already know what they are going to say. Most people like to talk about themselves or their company, so give customers a chance to fully express themselves. You never know – they might surprise you and say something different than you thought. Also, they should be more likely to listen to what you have to say if let them have their say first.

•  Be ready to take notes when important information comes up. There is too much information on a case by case basis to try and remember it all. Don’t be afraid to refer to these notes as the conversation continues. Accuracy and attention to detail is always appreciated and will give your customer confidence in your fulfilling their order correctly.

•  Pay attention to facial expressions and body language. If on the phone, listen closely to the tone of voice. Many times people say one thing, but are thinking another. Becoming an expert on non-verbal cues can help you to determine where to probe and where to pull back.

•  Be sincere. Just like you can learn to tell what people are saying non-verbally when you really listen, so too can those same attributes come across in your voice or expression. Be sincere when you are listening to customers and trying to help them solve their problems.

•  Periodically, restate the major points communicated by the customer. Rephrasing or summarizing what has been discussed shows that you’re listening and it also helps to make sure that you are interpreting correctly what the customer is saying.

•  Know your responses to common objections beforehand. This will allow you to listen more effectively as you will not be trying to mentally compose your response while the customer is still talking and possibly miss something important.

•  Finally, FOCUS. Do not do email, IM, or internet surfing while on the phone. Do not mentally compile lists of things to do on the way home, other calls to make or think about how behind you are while in a meeting. Many of us have more to do with less people to do it, but while with a customer – give them your full attention and they will return the courtesy.

Today’s successful salesperson is ultimately an effective problem solver. Practice your listening skills and you will quickly realize that as you strive to help your customers, you will be helping yourself and your sales as well.

This article was written by Tracie Gilbert, VP of Business Development at Cosmetic Promotions. For more information on Cosmetic Promotions, please check out their website www.cosproagency.com or contact Tracie direct at Tracie@cosmeticpromotions.com.