Tip 2 - To Cut Loose From Old Sales Thinking: When you loose a sale, it’s usually at the beginning of the sales process.

Let me be blunt … The number one goal is not to promote your product, brand or solution – but rather focus in on, and understand the problem your prospect is trying to solve. It is only then, when you have demonstrated your genuine concern for the problem your prospect is trying to solve, that you have the trust needed to offer a solution.

Traditional sales methodology suggests a sale is lost at the end of the process. That you didn’t nail your close, or you mishandled an objection. I beg to differ; I believe that in the new economy the sale is not lost at the end of the process but rather at the beginning. At “Hello”.

And after hello, beginning the conversation acknowledging the problems your prospect is having, peeling back the layers on those problems and showing empathy for the situation will allow you to begin to talk about the ROI for solving the problem and the impact that NOT solving the problem might have on the business.

If you think you’re losing sales due to mistakes you make at the end of the process, I would ask you to review how you began the relationship. Did you start with a pitch? Instead of a conversation …

Did you use traditional sales language (“We have a solution that you really need” or “Others in your industry have bought our solution, you should consider it as well”)?

You see, traditional sales language leads prospects to label you with the negative stereotype of “salesperson.” This makes it almost impossible for them to relate to you with trust or to have an honest, open conversation about problems they're trying to solve and how you might be able to help them. And this label, this perspective of you, happens at “Hello”, at the beginning. 

Your job is not to build a relationship with someone in your pre-sales process. Your job is to build a relationship with them, post-sale. People don’t want to be your friend pre-sale. They want to know they can trust you to solve their problem.

Ari Galper is the World’s #1 Authority On Trust-Based Selling and the creator of Unlock The Game?, a new sales mindset that overturns the notion of selling as we know it today. His personal insights on how to build trust between buyers and sellers continues to break new ground. Thousands of Business Owners worldwide have been transformed by his trust-based sales approach. You can get a copy of his new book “Unlock The Sales Game” or his free intro course at https://www.UnlockTheGame.com