5 Sales Soft Skills Tips

Unfortunately, many businesses have their sales pitch revolving around them and not their clients. Customer experience, honesty, and genuine concern for your customers are the foundations upon which to succeed in your sales efforts. The following are 5 sales soft skills tips that will boost your sales, retain customers and generate more revenue. 

1. Put Your Customers First

Not even a single business can grow over time without focusing on the customers’ experience. If you want customers to be loyal, trust you and to recommend you, then you’ve got to make the needs of your clients a priority. 

If you guarantee your customers a remarkable experience, then you increase the possibility of them speaking highly of your products and services. As much as you want your sales pitch to convert, the primary aim should be to change your lead into an ambassador for the company. From time to time, seek to know if your customers can recommend the company to a friend or colleague. 

The idea is to stop selling but instead serve your customers. Some sales companies fall into the trap of selling the products or services to the wrong customers without caring about their needs. Unfortunately, the same comes to haunt them later when they receive endless complaints and negative reviews to the extent that their businesses hit a dead end.

As much as possible, insist on building healthy and strong sales pipelines in all your sales efforts. Show your customers that you care, strengthen your relationships, and you can guarantee yourself more revenue in the future. 

2. Make it Simple for Your Customers to Do Business with You

However unique the product or services might be, you cannot retain customers with pathetic customer service. If you reduce your customers’ efforts or the work they have to do to have your service products or concerns sorted, then they’ll become loyal. 

How can you reduce the amount of work your clients do? The approach is pretty easy. Spare a moment to figure out the steps you can remove in the process to get their issues addressed quickly. For instance, if you’ve upgraded the system and you need your customers to click on a particular link to update, then you can do it for them automatically. 

Essentially, that means cutting down the amount of effort the customers need to make before they can write to the support. Make sure that you deliver more than they could ask for, and they’ll rarely turn their backs on you.

3. Harness the Power of Reciprocity for Stronger Relationships

If you want to retain your customers better, then you have to learn how to reciprocate. Majorly, reciprocity involves doing good things to whoever does you good. 
As an entrepreneur, you can adapt the power of reciprocity when interacting with the customers to deepen your relationships. Don’t expect them to do business with you if you don’t give them something of value first. 

Think of a simple yet valuable gift that can get them to reciprocate. For instance, an e-book or a free guide works wonders. Even better, you can provide them with an important contact form your network, refer them to someone else, or offer a solution to a problem that you may have read somewhere and that may not be necessarily related to your business.  

4. Listen to Your Customers’ Cries and Show that You Care

The sales process can convert a lead into a customer or send them to the competitors. At all times, the sales team should listen keenly to what the customers have to say. After all, you cannot offer the right solutions if you don’t understand their problems. 

Empathy and compassion are essential values that will show your customers that you’re not just there to make quick cash. And while showing that you care, make sure it’s genuine as they can tell when you’re faking it. If you meet in person, lean over, make eye contact, wear a charming smile, ask questions and put down some notes as they speak and they will keep remembering you.

5. Let Your Customers Know You Are Upfront Beforehand

As stupid as it might sound, it makes sense to say something that may look disadvantageous to your business. For instance, you can mention that a competitor’s product or service is better in a particular way. However, be sure not to be carried marketing your competitor and forget to emphasize why your solution is the best despite the slight shortcoming.

By using a customer-first approach, it tells that you prioritize their best interests and that you’re not just another guy looking to close a deal and disappear. If you do that at most twice during the sales process, it will have positive rather than a negative impact on your business. It’s a definite indication you’re aware of their problems, and they’ll trust you even more. 

Wrapping Up

Better business relationships, trust, customer retention and improved revenue will come only if you make your customers a priority. 

IT Xchange provides PC & server hardware to technology VARs.