Selling is an art. About three years ago, I took a marketing test. I was in a room full of at least 500 salesmen, all listening to the speaker explaining the science of how to sell in as specific detail as he could.
The presenter proposed that sales is a science. Now the problem is, selling isn’t a science, it’s an art. Its an art that one has to learn and perfect over time.You become good at what you do continuously.
Take for instance a situation where a sales person is working for a car dealership shop. He or she is approached by a potential client.The presenter stated that the sales person had to follow a series of simple steps in order to sell.
Then when he or she is ready to close the deal, he’ll or she’ll ask the customer the question, “Do you prefer the red car or the black car?”
Most of the salespeople in the room were taking feverish notes. I’m sure they went back to the car dealership (or wherever they worked) and followed, step by very careful step, all of the instructions provided.
Basically, I knew that most of the people in the room who followed the drive of the presenter would never really master the art of selling.
So what’s the correct response to the challenge, “Sell me the car ?”
You Sell The Car By Not Selling The Car
Literally, the last thing you do when trying to sell the car is start by explaining how fantastic the car is.
The first step to selling the car?
You first need to understand who your customer, as a person, is. What are their likes and dislikes? What fascinates them? How did they get to the position they are in?
Then, you need to understand their needs, how often they use a car, what kind of cars they use, whether they use a car every day or occasionally.
If you do like the Presenter suggested in the forum and begin the conversation by “selling the car,” then you’ve likely lost the sale.
In a sales call, you need to spend more time listening than speaking. That’s why it’s so hard to master the art of sales … because most people like the sound of their own voices, and they feel compelled to sell the customer something. They feel compelled to begin the sale right away.
What you’re selling when you sell the customer the car, is not the car; it is yourself. And you sell yourself by making yourself likable.
You ask questions, and you listen. You let the customer speak, and you listen some more.
And that is the art of selling.