Sales Techniques not just theory, but practice!?

>>1844584


The two best ways to learn sales:

- By selling
- By having a great salesperson work with you and coach you for a few weeks/months while you are selling

The books don't help that much. More so, every salesman has to find what works for him. Perfect example is that I am a quiet salesman. We are rare, but it works for me. When I first started I tried to be all Billy Mays loud and friendly and failed miserably. That works for other men, but not me.

> Done sales for 4 years

>>1844625
>- By selling


>The books don't help that much.

yeah this is pretty much what I assumed.

>Perfect example is that I am a quiet salesman
Do you find that it's a certain type of customer that you can sell better to than the Billy Mays types as you call it? Or is it if you can sell, you can sell to anybody, irrespective of your approach?

Anyway, looks like I got to find me a mentor

>>1844657

I'd say I am much better at selling to thinkers than doers.

The Billy Mays types are better at selling to doers, but have trouble with thinkers.

I explore what the customer needs, and then rapidly solve their problem in a trustworthy tone.

The Billy Mays types appeal more to emotion, leadership, bonding. That they are the king of all shit, have an amazing product, and the customer would be fuck stupid not to buy it right then.

I could go on about sales for days. What you want to know?

>>1844666
Really interesting, but that all makes sense.

I guess what I'd like to know is how do you cut through the bullshit and find out what your customer actually needs or thinks they need?
Do you find it better to just early on be like "what do you need the ___ for?" or is it more conversational, casual and picking up clues, then throwing suggestions at them and seeing which ones they react positive to?

Another problem is I get a lot of people inquiring into my services and then once I tell them a (usually competitively low price) never hear from them again...

Are they just stringing me along, curious. Or have I failed to capture their attention?

BAMP... let's get our head out of the books, and into the real world here /biz/

>>1844584
The only way to get good at it is through practice.

I used to be a shy kid with a stutter who somehow fell into a sales job, it took a few months and experimenting with differeny strategies to figure out what works.

A huge part of it is being able to guage the other person, they may not be willing to buy at all right off the bat so you shouldn't waste your time. Some might be willing to buy, but are skeptical. Some might be willing to buy, but are stingy fucks. Some are willing to pay whatever it takes.

I'm lucky that I've never done any cold calling. 95% of my sales are done in person by clients that are referred to me. I'm selling a product that is also a service. Basically the same thing that Costs $225 for one person might be $700 for another, it all depends on how you guage their willingness to buy.

It's a fun job and you get to learn about all different kinds of personality traits. The key to being a good salesman is tailoring your approach to each individual client. You have only a short time to get a good read on them.

I like letting them talk a lot first, get them engaged in the process. Then I start asking questions to assess their needs and expectations, and telling them what I can offer.

By the time that's over, we've already spent at least a half hour. I ask if they're are willing to make a purchase, if they say yes, I quote them a price.

My biggest piece of advice: get the client engaged in the process before you ever talk about pricing. Even if you're a traveling vacuum salesman going door to door. The moment they let you into their house to test the vacuum on their carpet you are already 9/10ths away from closing a deal.

>>1844837
>My biggest piece of advice: get the client engaged in the process before you ever talk about pricing.

Really good advice. Emphasize the solution, the way it's gonna improve their life/bussiness - then and only then worry about money.

What do you do though if people right off the bat ask "how much?" is it okay to waver
>How much?
>I need to know how big the job is before I can give you a quote, tell me what you need done?

Like is that approach okay?

>>1844584
Are you tall? Are you white? Are you beautiful? Sales are for you

I am in sales, but I am admittedly not the best

When I first started, I was absolutely garbage. Now, I'm decent, but not where I want to be

I don't know what I book is going to tell you, but if you learn something from it, you still need to incorporate it into your being so that it comes across as something congruent with who you are as a person. When I first started I used to take advice from "mentors" and work their pitches and things like that, but that's just not who I am. I started working their advice into my own person, and things started working more, but I still have a lot to figure out

You do become infinitely better at reading people, though. Reading clients, I'm a bit nervous about since there's something on the line. In every day life though, 9/10 people have become open books. It's ridiculous, honestly

>>1844905
>What do you do though if people right off the bat ask "how much?" is it okay to waver
>>How much?
>>I need to know how big the job is before I can give you a quote, tell me what you need done?
Yeah, I get that all the time.

I tell them I can't quote you without knowing exactly what you're looking for. Usually that gets them talking and I'm able to get a better sense of their expectations and the amount of time it will take.

If they resist being quoted up front, make an analogy, like it's like calling up a contractor and asking how much it costs to build a house. They won't quote you without knowing the parameters of the work to be done. They'll say they do houses starting at 100k all the way up to 4 million. Everything is custom and depends on exactly what the client is looking for. Let's spend some time to get to know you and ask what your looking for.

Then when you're 30 mins into the conversation and have them excited talking, you've already almost closed the deal.

If they refuse to talk before you quote them, drop them like a hot potato. It's not a person you want to work with.

>>1844837

what u sell?

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>>1845216
I'm this guy >>1844837
I sell my Butt. Its $50 a ride, you in?

>>1845216
Let's just say it's a customized service (no knee pads involved). I'd rather not go into the details since I'm probably one of less than 20 individuals in my metro area (10 million) that offer what I provide. It's not exactly a niche service, it's something everyone needs, but most people can do it on their own and do a shoddy job.

>>1844941
How do you get better at "reading people" is it simply trial and error, noticing patterns overtime? Or is it a unconscious process, like you sell enough eventually you just instinctively 'know' shit?

>>1844962
THANKS! That helps alot

>>1844719
>I get a lot of people inquiring into my services and then once I tell them a (usually competitively low price) never hear from them again...
They're your competitors scoping you out and realising you're not a threat.
Congrats, you're underselling yourself.

>>1846322
>you just instinctively 'know' shit?
I think it's more like this, but in combination with the first thing you listed

Very easy to detect people's moods or stance on something or underlying desires and motivations in a situation

>>1844584
I'm interested too, I had been in a "sales" job for a week. Honestly just got fired today when I got home. I am going to find out their reason why tomorrow.

But it was more telemarketing, basically cold calling and giving a pitch along with getting a business owner to agree to a meeting with an agent to change their credit service to the companys'. My first appointment resulted in a deal though.

I'm guessing it's because I couldn't make appointments. They expected 4 per day and I had been there a week and hadn't made any apart from that one. I still plan to move on to something better. My skills are always in need of improvement.

>>1846459

Don't feel bad your story is as old as time itself.

Oh and cold calling is dead. For some reason Boomers still think it's a good idea.

>>1846659
>Oh and cold calling is dead. For some reason Boomers still think it's a good idea.
It actually still works, believe it or not. And it's cheaper than Google Ads.

But telemarketing isnt quite a true sales job.