Top 5 sales tips for your team

A motivated sales team is a successful sales team.

These are definitely words to live by in business. And as simple as it may sound, it's something that's often overlooked.

Here's our top 5 tips for your sales team to remember;

Know your product

That’s a real basic, isn’t it. But how many times have you agreed to a meeting with someone who seems to have a product that suits your business, only to be disappointed by their lack of knowledge and market awareness? As a manager, you will know your product inside out. If you’ve employed anyone to represent you, make sure they know their stuff too. And don’t be afraid to test them on it through role play.

Listen

We all know that one, but sales people are extremely good at being on ‘transmit’. It’s hard to learn to ‘shut up’ and listen, but it will certainly pay dividends. Oh, and you need to be doing the listening to the customer first and only then start talking about yourself, not the other way round!

Understand what the customer wants

So they’ve listened, but does your sales person really now understand what the customer is looking for and why they need it? Are they selling a solution, and do they realise not every customer needs or wants the same thing? Instead be consultative and help them solve the problem they have. Repeat the scenario back to them just to be sure you’ve heard them correctly.

Keep your promises

Always do what you say you’ll do, when you’ve said you’ll do it by. And if for any reason you can’t deliver, be upfront about it. A sales person represents your product and your company – don’t bury your head in the sand if things start to go wrong.

Exceed expectations

How do you feel about automated email responses, such as: “Thank you for your enquiry, we will respond within 24 hours”? Or suppliers not answering the phone when you try to call them? A new enquiry is gold dust so you should be responding straight away. Not in an hour after lunch or tomorrow afternoon when you are next in the office. Right now.

And what about that telephone ringing off the hook? These days, nobody can afford to take a chance on missing a new enquiry, or not representing their company properly. It’s easy to arrange support for your telephone calls from someone who knows you, your business and your key clients. But hang on, I seem to be on transmit…