How To Have A Selling Advantage – 8 x Tips
In this article, you’ll learn how to have a selling advantage, by learning proven sales tips and techniques that you can start implementing straight away.
These successful sales techniques are centred around consultative selling.
This means that you’ll take a question based, and solution approach rather than purely presenting up front or using any old school and gimmicky techniques.
Read on to learn how to have a selling advantage in a non-pushy way.
How To Have A Selling Advantage – 8 x Tips
How To Have A Selling Advantage Tip #1 – Rapport
The first on our list of tips for how to have a selling advantage, is to build rapport with your potential clients the right way and effectively.
Many people think that rapport means to be over enthusiastic and oozing with confidence.
This is an old and outdated sales model – and in fact hurts your sales.
Instead, we recommend building rapport by using matching and mirroring techniques with your body language, tonality and use of words.
Rapport is much more than just appearing to look approachable.
Your dress code will matter, as well as the terminology you use.
To learn how to build rapport the right way, read the linked article below for more detail.
Further reading: A Guide To Building Sales Relationships/ Building Rapport
How To Have A Selling Advantage Tip #2 – Qualifying Correctly
Another important lesson on our list of tips for how to have a selling advantage, is to qualify your prospect – and qualify as early as possible.
Many Sales Professionals and Business Owners make the mistake of engaging in their sales conversations and undergo their sales process, with prospects who don’t qualify for their offer.
When qualifying, ensure that you’re meeting with prospects who are a valid – versus someone who may just be interested or fishing for information.
Important information to learn include:
- Do they have the budget?
- Is it just for themselves, or does someone else make the decision?
- Do they actually need what you offer, or do they need a different solution?
- Can you deliver what they want within the right time frame?
To learn how to qualify effectively, read the related article below.
Related article: Qualifying Sales Leads – A Step By Step Guide
#3 – Positioning
How you position yourself to your potential clients can make or break the sale, which is why we’re adding positioning to our list on how to have a selling advantage.
The right positioning means to be viewed as a trusted adviser, rather than just another salesperson.
We recommend that you add something to your sales process called a pre-frame.
A pre-frame is a positioning and objection countering tool we teach in our sales training program called The 5% Sales Blueprint.
In the pre-frame, you want to do the following:
- Let them know you’ll be asking a lot of questions, so that you can learn whether you can in fact help them
- Find out who the decision makers are, and whether they’re all present
- Give them permission to say no if they don’t feel they’re the right fit; and that you too will do the same
Positioning yourself as a trusted advisor is one of the most important tips for how to have a selling advantage, that can make a massive change in how often you sell.
Read the linked article below to learn how to position yourself correctly.
Further reading: Positioning In Sales – How To Sell Effectively
How To Have A Selling Advantage Tip #4 – Find Pain
The fourth on our list of tips for how to have a selling advantage, is learning how to ask deep diving, layered questions that uncover their pain points.
People buy for two reasons.
To avoid pain and move toward a desired state, or positive outcome.
Even if you’re selling B2B, the everyday issues they’re facing have a personal toll on the individuals within the business.
Selling is a human-to-human activity.
And humans always buy to avoid pain and move towards a desired state.
When asking questions to find pain, we recommend going three layers deep to find the underlying and core reasons as to why they want to buy.
These are:
- Their technical issues
- How it is impacting their business or career
- What is their personal impact
Related article: Pain Points & Sales – Your Ultimate Guide
How To Have A Selling Advantage Tip #5 – Prescribe Your Solution
One of the biggest mistakes Sales Professionals and Business Owners make, is presenting their offer too early.
A solution should always be prescribed to an issue or problem; prescribing before learning what these are can be fatal to your sales efforts.
Always prescribe later, rather than too early.
What this does, is it makes your product or service appear as if it’s a solution to their direct problem – rather than appearing as just something they can always buy.
Related article: What Is The Puppy Dog Close?
#6 – Bring Up Money Sooner Rather Than Later
A common mistake made by many Sales Professionals and Business Owners, is leaving the discussion of money until the very end of their sales conversations.
To truly master how to have a selling advantage, you need to bring up money during your conversations, rather than just leaving it until the end.
When discussing money, it’s important to look at it from a viewpoint of two areas.
First of all – what is it costing them by not taking action?
If they were to do nothing, what does this cost them on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis?
By bringing this into context, it’ll help them realise the importance of finding a solution to their issue.
Secondly – what will they be willing to invest in fixing their issue?
Once there’s an understanding of what it’s costing them, you can then contrast that with what they will pay to solve the issue.
When you have an understanding of what this looks like, you can have a better idea of whether or not they can in fact afford what it is that you’re selling.
Handling money early is one of our highly recommended successful sales techniques.
#7 – Don’t Rely On Scripts
Many people out there teach that you should be using sales scripts when engaging your potential clients.
There are two issues with using sales scripts.
First of all – your potential client will easily get wind when you’re using them.
People are not dumb – including your clients. If they think you’re using a script, they’ll catch on and you’ll break rapport.
Secondly, how are you realistically meant to remember a script for every single rebuttal or question they may ask?
It’s not good sales business.
Instead, one of our recommended tips for how to have a selling advantage is to use a structure to sell, rather than rely on scripts.
As per our article in Entrepreneur Media, we discuss the importance of abandoning exact scripts, and to use a framework or structure instead.
By using a structure, you’ll still have a road map to guide you to the sale, but it’ll be flexible enough to slightly pivot when need be.
Being able to pivot is important, because no two customers are the same.
#8 – Invest Your Training
The last on our list of tips for how to have a selling advantage, is to improve yourself wherever possible.
Many people make the mistake of looking at the finish line – because it may seem so far away, it causes inaction, resulting in no change whatsoever.
Instead, remember personal development is all about the micro commitments and improvements.
Invest in training to improve your sales, business systems, marketing, and mindset.
Final Thoughts
These easy to implement tips for how to have a selling advantage will only work for you, if you implement and take action on what you’ve learnt.
We recommend going through each area and learning more about each so that you can improve your sales process and overall sales conversations.
If you’re interested in taking your sales to the next level, feel free to register for our no cost 7 Day Sales Challenge here.
Want To Close Consistently Without The Guesswork?
If you’re committed to increase your closing rate more consistently, then you should look into our online sales training program, The 5% Sales Blueprint.
Our online program is self-paced and is an affordable investment that’ll teach you exactly what to do to close more sales.
No more guess work – learn the exact process to win sales without being pushy.
Click the link below to learn how.
Our Online Sales Training Program – The 5% Sales Blueprint.
