What are the two communication skills do you think are very vital to the success of a salesperson?

Your communication skills determine your chances of a sale — from your opening pitch to your closing statements. Developing your questioning, vocal and conversational skills will help you build on a strong first impression by gaining trust and establishing credibility.

Questioning skills

Asking appropriate, purposeful questions can help you identify whether your customer is likely to buy your products, and move them through the selling process.

There are several types of questions that can help you in the sales process.

Closed questions

Closed questions require a simple 'yes' or 'no' answer. For example: 'Are you looking for a television today?'

Closed questions are used to:

• find out facts
• limit or guide discussion
• gather basic information from the customer that you can use to generate an open question.

Open questions

Open questions require a customer to explain or elaborate. For example: 'What type of product are you looking for?'

Open questions are used to:

• gather specific information so you can determine your customer's wants and needs
• build relationships with customers so that they are comfortable dealing with you.

Probing questions

Probing questions are about a specific topic to uncover more information. For example: 'What type of television do you think would fit best on your wall?'

Probing questions are used to:

• obtain more specific information in order to fully understand your customer's needs
• uncover and clarify your customer's perceptions and opinions.

Confirming questions

Confirming questions are designed to check that your customer understands what you've said. For example: 'Which of these features would benefit you most?'

Confirming questions are used to check that you've successfully communicated information to your customer.

Summary confirmation questions

Summary confirmation questions are designed to check that you understand what your customer has told you. For example: 'Are you saying you'd prefer to order the next model in our range?'

Summary confirmation questions are used to:

• check that you understand your customer's needs
• check that the benefits you've outlined meet their needs.

Conversational skills

Good salespeople look for a way to make a connection with their customer, and build a conversation based on trust and understanding. Conversation skills include:

• asking non-confronting questions to show you genuinely care about your customer's needs
• talking knowledgeably about your product or service
• displaying interest and warmth
• avoiding bias or stereotyping
• adjusting to your customer's verbal style
• telling the truth
• offering observations that show you understand
• accepting and acknowledging your customer's opinions
• refraining from interrupting or correcting unnecessarily
• watching for and responding to signs of discomfort or boredom
• being diplomatic
• making small talk — when it's called for and to an appropriate degree.

Vocal skills

Good communicators know that what they say is often less important than the way they say it. Use your voice to make an impact by:

• adjusting your pitch to suit the conversation
• adjusting your volume to ensure clarity, and suit your customer's comfort and hearing needs
• speaking in a steady tone of voice to show calm and confidence
• slowing the speed of your speech so it is calm and clear
• varying the inflection in your voice to suit your message - to show enthusiasm, common sense, interest, and gravity
• enunciating your words clearly
• varying the quality and intensity of your voice to hold interest
• conveying meaning using the sound of your voice to reinforce your messages.

Because the art of selling is so dependent on persuasive and believable information exchange, salespeople must be effective communicators. Great communication is not simply what is conveyed, but how it is conveyed and how choice rhetoric, info and body language can drive relationships and sales.

Once salespeople elevate communication skills to a pro level, they can improve sales and relate better to prospects.

1. Listen

When meeting with a prospect, remember there are two parties and that communication should go in both directions. Don’t just talk (and risk talking yourself out of a sale); listen – and listen so well that the prospect feels understood and heard. Even if a prospect is reluctant to talk, ask questions or encourage general feedback.

Listening can help you perceive:

• Answers that give insight into the prospect’s needs, values, motivations or budget.
• Changes in the prospect’s tone or mood.
• Buzz words that signal resistance or openness to closing.
• Excitement or hostility toward the company or the salesperson.

2. Focus on Solutions

Modern sales training wisely teaches salespeople to be customer-centric. However, that doesn’t mean all aspects of a customer’s life from college exploits to hobbies rank equally in importance. Center your dialogue around the most important customer focus: solutions.

Find out what’s not working well, what’s missing, or what deficiencies need improving; then show how products, services or special options from your company can address these matters. To improve sales, your communication should be full of expert advice, recommendations and resolutions so the prospect will think of you not just as a salesperson but as a problem-solver.

3. Read Body Language

A salesperson can gain an advantage by reading body language. Interpreting how long a customer glances at a part of the presentation, how wide pupils dilate to show interest, whether the torso is pointing in a direction that shows agreement or if the prospect is signaling openness through gestures can all improve sales potential.

There is a lot of information about this on the Web, so some time spent searching and
reading is time well spent.

4. Match Prospect’s Tone (Mimicry)

Linguistic mirroring has long helped professionals in any field where persuasion is necessary. Matching the prospect’s tone, words or ideology can create trust, agreement and an atmosphere of ease. Use tips from any neuro linguistics and psychology resource to start practicing how to match tone.

Some of the common-sense basics:

• If the client is laid back and relaxed when speaking, don’t be overly formal, manic or uptight.
• If the client is super upbeat and humorous, don’t be droll and no-nonsense.
• If the prospect is very sophisticated, you’ll want to be your most polished.
• If he is stoic and all-business, you’ll want be serious, too.

Clashes in tone can ruin a client meeting in the first minute. Even if the prospect endures the meeting until the end, he likely won’t close a deal with someone he couldn’t connect with in tone. Even if he can’t put his finger on the reason for the disconnect, he will feel it.

5. Greet and Depart Properly

Whether you close a deal or not, always be warm, inviting and sincere with the prospect, greeting them in a personal way and leaving the same.

People tend to remember the first impression and the last thing you say to them, so make a good impression at both of these points, even if you haven’t closed, and it might inspire them to contact you in the future. Have you ever experienced a salesperson who is all smiles and giggles at first when she thinks she can sell you, but then changes demeanor abruptly and rushes you out the door when she realizes you aren’t buying today?

Don’t be that guy or girl. You never know when the person who doesn’t qualify today will turn into an interested buyer in the future.

Communicating more effectively improves sales skills ranging from negotiating and closing to in-person confidence and cordiality. It’s a skill we all should work on more often.

For more great sales tips visit the Asher Strategies Blog:http://www.asherstrategies.com/blog

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