Things to keep in mind when making sales

Your success as an entrepreneur depends on your ability to sell. But hardly any business school offers a class on sales. Many organizations offer training programs on sales that are about theories of sales, and not about the practice of sales. Below, we offer some not-really-original but sensibly practical tips on sales.

1. Never talk cost. Never talk price. Always talk to clients about value. Value to them. Value for them – when they buy and use your products and services.
2. Explain and re-explain value about how it makes the clients’ life better, or easier or more profitable.
3. Always quantify what your strengths: 5 years of experience, 5,000 customers served, etc.
4. Never leave a sales meeting without mutually agreeing what the next action step is.
5. When making sales, talk more about the clients and their issues, and less about you. Listen, ask questions, understand what on the clients’ mind, and help the clients explain what they are looking for.
6. When you make cold calls, the point is not to sell – but to have a meeting.
7. Selling and negotiations are different: First, sell. Then, negotiate discounts, etc.
8. Sales and marketing are different: Marketing brings/attracts the clients to you; you then make the sale to the clients who have come to you.
9. Ask your salespeople to deliver to forecast: when they do so, it means they are on top of their work.
10. Care about your clients. People interact with and buy from those who care. Always help and tell your clients even when there is no direct and immediate benefit to you.

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This is a guest post by Ashutosh Tiwari (Some of the materials may have been collected from other sources).