What you are about to learn will not make you a master sales rep overnight. It will not magically make you overshoot your target. These sales soft skills tips & tricks are the icing on the cake, the extra spice that will make you stand out and facilitate your sales process.
Body Language
Many books have been written about body language. Here is some basic advice about how to handle yourself in a sales encounter.
The Handshake
A handshake can say a lot about a person and a grip that is overly aggressive can be off-putting. You want to present yourself as a confident problem solver, not someone who is overly eager to win a deal. On the same token, you do not want to shake too weak and seem underconfident.
Give the Upper Hand.
When shaking hands, allow the other person’s hand to be on top if you want them to feel dominant, or put yours on top if you want to have the upper hand in the situation.
Slouching
The posture you hold speaks to your confidence level. When you are slouching, you are signaling that you don’t have confidence in the sale you’re trying to make. If you don’t believe in it, why should your clients?
Mirroring your counterparts’ behaviors, movements, and speaking pattern will help them feel more at ease. Obviously, you don’t want to act like a mime and copy every exact movement. It should be subtle and almost unnoticeable.
Body
Look at how they are sitting, where they place their hands, try slowly adjusting yours to theirs as the encounter lasts.
Clothes
A good rule of thumb is to go for “mirror” + one, where you dress one notch more formally than your prospect or customer. Don’t overdo this. You do not want to come across as an authority or be in any way intimidating.
If you are meeting a banker, make sure to wear a suit. If you are meeting someone with a more operational job description, wear some jeans and a shirt. You get the picture.
Understand B2B does not exist
Ultimately, you are dealing with a person. In that way, the B2C and B2B sales approach couldn’t be more similar. That’s why I make sure our sales reps understand B2B doesn’t exist. It all comes down to convincing someone, a person making a decision in the name of a company.
That is why you should try to make a connection on a human level, build a personal report. You can achieve this by changing little things in your way of communicating with people.
Remember names
Everybody’s favorite word, everyone’s favorite sound to hear, is the sound of their own first name. So, use it. Often. Use it on the phone and use it in a meeting with your prospect. Make sure you remember each stakeholder’s names before entering a meeting (or network event) and you’re taking a big leap forward in trying to connect with them.
Try to make a connection
If your prospect has a picture on their desk of his kids, ask them about it. Do this in a general way so you don’t force them to talk about their private life if they don’t want to.
- “It seems those people are very important to you”
- “It feels like you are very passionate about -whatever they are displaying-”
You will find more often than not that a conversation will start, and just like that, they start trusting you a little more. And when they talk, listen. Make sure to remember what they care about for future interactions.
Be the last to speak
This tip I got from the great Simon Sinek, who aims to help leaders lead. I reckon it applies just as much to sales reps.
You will be told your whole life (and your whole sales career) that you need to learn how to listen. Simon Sinek says you should learn to be the last one to speak. I couldn’t agree more.
The skill to hold your opinions to yourself until everyone has spoken does 2 things:
- It gives everyone (your prospective clients) the feeling they have contributed and that they have been heard.
- You get the benefit of hearing what everybody has to say before you render your opinion.
- If you agree with somebody, don’t nod yes
- If you disagree with somebody, don’t nod no
Simply sit there and take it all in. The only thing you are allowed to do is ask questions so you can understand what they mean and why they have the opinion that they have. You must understand where they are coming from and why they have the opinion that they have.
In the end, you will get your turn. It sounds easy, but it’s not. Practice being the last to speak
End with something concrete (call to action)
Always end every encounter with concrete next steps. A call to action if you will.
Failing to include this part in a sales conversation will lead to a painfully long follow-up process. It will lead to a lot of time being lost repeating what was said before, countless exchange of emails, and calls to attain a result that could have been attained much sooner.
Who is responsible for doing exactly what after leaving each other?
Will they provide you with more information and by which date? Are you supposed to give them a price quote? Do you formulate your value proposition?
Make clear arrangements about what will happen next to ensure a structured follow-up and win valuable time in a later stage when you are trying to close the deal.
