A volatile economy can wreak havoc with your sales. Establishing trust is challenging, buyers want faster and more reliable results from the money they’re sending. It takes more skill to compete with other businesses and successfully close deals. What are the industry-proven tips that the world’s top salespeople are using? Here are five of them;
1. Ask yourself: how are you a leader?
During times of crisis, buyers want more visibility from the leader of a company, trust is at an all-time low and tensions are high. Inspire confidence and improve your sales when you’re dealing with widespread consumer reluctance by being more visible. It improves the perceived levels of accountability of the company. Not only do buyers want to see the boss more often, they also want to see the work being done. Share progress updates more regularly, increase communication and reach out to your customers more often, and make yourself easier to reach.
2. Say more but use fewer words
Information overload is real. During a volatile economy, there are so many facts floating around and so much “research”, it’s overwhelming. In stress mode, buyers want relief. They want solutions. They don’t want to understand the mechanism or the science, they just need something that will simplify life and give them more time. You can improve your sales simply by keeping meetings shorter and to the point. Stop talking about products or services and talk about what your consumers will get from using you.
3. Choose your research with care
When you are using facts to promote the efficacy of your product, be wary of where you’re sourcing your research from. Your facts may be real, but if they’re not from resources that consumers view as legitimate, you will damage your reputation and alienate buyers. People are more discerning which means your facts need to be very strong to build trust, regardless of whether they are true or not.
4. Use storytelling as a sales technique
As buyers become more suspicious and reluctant to buy based on facts and others sales techniques, storytelling is becoming more powerful. Instead of providing potential clients with reviews, recount the story of the people who gave you their reviews, but from their perspective. Start your story by talking about someone who had a problem which they struggled with. Talk about the experience of that struggle and how they came to you. Explain in detail how you helped them and how you solved their problem. This gets attention and holds engagement, creating a connection between you and your customer.
5. Be real and define your authenticity
What are your values? What matters to you? Write a list of ethics that you want to embody. This is your personal code of conduct and being authentic means living in accordance with values that you truly believe in. Being real and authentic doesn’t mean you’re allowed to unfilter your thoughts. It does mean you’re allowed to have a bad day, a negative opinion, or share some form of vulnerability, especially if it relates to your consumer. Being “real” can get people to push through their boundaries and be vulnerable with you, strengthening a connection between you which makes them more likely to purchase from you.
