There’s no bigger turnoff than dealing with a salesperson who seems desperate to make quota. Similarly, generic email blasts and marketing communications can alienate leads who could potentially become good customers. So how do you make inroads with prospects without coming off as obsessed with making a sale? Here are six suggestions:
- Share an article. Passing along helpful information is beneficial on two fronts: it empowers your prospect, and it makes you seem knowledgeable. When you share a relevant informational article, your prospect is that much more likely to turn to you, their well-informed friend, when they’re ready to make a buying decision.
- Send a gift. There’s nothing that will make a prospect’s day more than getting a little “just because” token. Gifts shouldn’t come off as bribes-in-disguise, so make sure they’re relevant. If you know they’re an avid coffee drinker, send them a Starbucks gift card. After a promising demo, supplement it by mailing them a copy of an informative book about your industry or field. Offering free trials or webinars are also ways to shower prospects with perks that will likely influence their buying decision in your favor.
- Be a good listener. Sales and marketing folks are used to doing all or most of the talking. Sales reps use scripts and rehearsed spiels, while marketing people are fluent in keywords and branding-speak. But your prospects don’t want to be talked at. They want to be able to communicate with you on a basic level and in a two-way exchange. Keep it conversational and make sure you’re doing at least as much listening as talking.
- Anticipate needs. This is one of the most valuable lessons I learned during my short stint in the restaurant business: Providing excellent service depends on anticipating your customer’s needs and responding accordingly. You can create opportunities where none existed by anticipating a need that the prospect didn’t even know they had.
- Solve problems. Solving problems goes hand in hand with anticipating needs (above). When you know a prospect’s pain points or anticipate their needs, be ready with a solution. Nobody wants to focus solely on problems and complaints. Try presenting solutions in your prospect communications, and you’ll likely be surprised with how responsive your audience becomes.
- Give advice. Sound advice dispensed freely by an industry expert can really win over skeptical prospects. Be that expert and offer up your honest professional advice to fence-sitters. The worst that can happen is that you don’t close the sale in the end, although you could have arrived at that outcome anyway. Not only will you maintain your integrity, but you’ll also greatly improve the chances that the prospect will turn to you for solutions in the future. The far more likely scenario is that giving out advice will boost your credibility and build trust with prospects, which will ultimately translate to more closed sales at the end of the day.
