5 minutes reading time
Selling is the only form of business that makes money – it is the heartbeat of your business that enables you to breath, grow and live another day. It is unfortunate that we live in a day and age where the word “sales”, “selling” and “salesperson” have become taboo words – society seems to be scared of these concepts. But that doesn’t mean that selling is happening any less frequently, or that it isn’t important. Many jobs are disappearing as technology overtakes human capabilities, but salespeople, I suspect, will still be around for a long time.
But is “the art of selling” a skill that can be learnt? Or is it all just luck? I’d argue the former.
Remember: good selling isn’t pushing; it’s pulling lightly with the right questions. Get your potential client to think differently, and you’ve won.
Here are some essential sales tips for anyone wanting to sharpen their skills, close more sales, and make more business. All of these are especially relevant to venues, who we’ve had the experience of working closely with in large numbers.
What are the 3 essential aspects needed to make a good sales person?
There is a so-called “holy trinity” of sales skills (often referred to as the Sales Triangle). These are: product knowledge, attitude and selling tactics.
Remove any one of these skills, and the triangle falls apart. All 3 parts are needed to be equally strong in order to successfully close a sale. You can’t have only 1 or 2, and be consistently successful. You might have excellent product knowledge and be incredibly enthusiastic to sell… This will open the door for you a crack, but it will slam back on your fingers when you start pushing product. Selling is never done by pushing product. It’s done with subtle selling tactics.
What can we take from this, in the venue-hire industry?
1. Know your venue and your offering intimately
You can never, ever hope to sell your venue if you can’t explain every aspect of it. And not just the general stuff: I’m talking the finest details. There is nothing more confidence-inspiring (and believe me – a huge part of making sales is in inspiring confidence) than being able to answer your potential client’s every single question with ease and grace.
2. Attitude is everything
You can’t possibly hope to sell your venue if your staff are disinterested, miserable, or insincere. As social mammals, human beings are trained from a young age to be able to read the finest social cues. We’ve all experienced it at some point in time – you are trying to interact with someone who has a horrible attitude, and you just want to walk away to spite them. Make sure you are genuinely enthusiastic, helpful, friendly and caring. If you are, your potential clients will latch on to every word you say.
3. Practice your sales skills
You need to take your potential client on a journey. Remember, making a sale is quite a nuanced thing. Your potential client is going to a strange place, meeting with a complete stranger (you) and is expected to part with thousands of Rands by the end of the meeting. You’ve got to lead them on the right journey – and you can only do this with the right skills. Here are the most crucial aspects:
- Make an incredible first impression. Studies show that the human brain decides in the first 10 seconds of meeting someone whether it likes them or not. After that, you’ll have a very hard time changing their minds. So, greet in a friendly manner, dress well, and make an amazing impression off-the-bat.
- Always be comfortable. If you are not natural and comfortable, your client won’t be.
- Be a mirror. People want to be understood and liked. If you mirror your client, they will feel like you “get” them. People buy from people they like, and if you subconsciously appeal to someone by mirroring them, you’re already off to a good start. Sit how they sit. Talk how they talk. Laugh when they laugh. When they talk about a topic, go with it.
- Allow the client to speak. The best sales people get their clients to sell to themselves. If a person is convinced of something, they are way more likely to follow-through – and everyone is convinced of their own opinions. The more you talk, the more you give the potential client time to think of objections. When they talk – they aren’t thinking of objections.
- Sell stories. Humans are emotionally driven creatures. Instead of selling by listing characteristics of your venue, sell by telling stories. Use emotive, friendly words as you tell tales of previous events that happened at your venue. Get them imagining their own event by painting pictures for them with your words. If you can capture the imagination of your client, you’re most of the way there.
- Referrals, referrals, referrals. Everyone loves referrals. If you can keep referencing your lists of happy clients, people will be put at ease. It’s a case of “don’t take my word for it, take my hundreds of happy customers words for it”.
- Have a genuine desire to help. This one shines through very clearly, even if it is the most abstract one. If your clients feel at all times that you are there to facilitate their story – that they are the center of your existence (instead of the other way around), you will make them feel genuinely cared for. This can go a long way to building a relationship and ultimately making a sale.
If you can successfully implement and execute every single one of these skills, your chance of making a sale increases exponentially. These things (as with any skill) won’t just happen without lots of practice. Practice makes perfect.
People who enjoy selling are good at selling. Teach yourself to enjoy the process, and you’ll get way better at it. You have to open your mind and leave your comfort zone to truly grow. Visualise yourself as someone who is actually good at sales – it works! Now, go and close some sales!
