How Couples Therapy Can Save Your Sales Goals
Most experts agree that good communication is a major factor in building healthy relationships. Rules that therapists teach to help couples build insight can also apply to salespeople wanting to connect with their customers on a deeper level. Unfortunately, when it comes to customers, some companies miss seeing the value of communication training for sales teams. When your sales force learns and applies some rules of healthy discourse, you might be surprised at the positive results.
Schedule a Good Time to Talk
Customers and salespeople normally have very busy lives. To focus on the benefits discussed in the sales pitch, both parties should have clear minds and be free from distractions. Listening is a skill that salespeople can use to uncover vital clues to meeting customer needs. It is difficult, however, to converse when the prospect cannot concentrate fully. To remove this block, salespeople can ask to schedule a time when they can be together uninterrupted.
Honesty is the Best Policy
Few things hamper understanding more than insincerity. Customers do not usually want the salesperson to recite a brochure. They would normally much rather have their reps affirm them as human beings. For customers to express their needs honestly, they generally must fully believe what the salesperson tells them. Building a real relationship can be hard work, and it normally takes willingness from both parties to speak authentically. To be successful, the salesperson can develop the habit of eliminating pat answers and learn to speak from the heart.
Strive for Meaningful Solutions
To make it for the long haul, customers and salespeople will likely need to enjoy shared gains from the partnership. When sales managers convey the often-unintuitive truth that making the immediate sale is not the only goal, real growth has a chance to occur. The customer is normally looking for meaningful solutions to problems, not just a quick fix. The salesperson can help the process by being sensitive to these needs and working primarily on building long-term accord.
Communication training for sales teams can help instill some of these concepts in the minds of salespeople. Managers, salespeople, and customers sometimes have difficulty learning the value of long-term affiliation. Untrained sales people have done much to strain the confidence of many customers, and as a result, trust issues tend to crop up early on in the exchange. However, with the proper coaching and the right attitude, both parties can make remarkable progress. The customer and salesperson relationship does not have to be a high-pressure battle between two adversaries. With a little effort, this wholly human part of the business can become a positive and nurturing experience.