15 good reasons to get referrals and recommendations. 3 practical tips on getting them

Below are 3 practical tips to make getting referrals and recommendations easy.

Over the years a high percentage of my new clients have come to me through referrals and recommendations. These tips work for me. Perhaps they will also help you to make more sales.

But first, here are 15 key reasons why referrals and recommendations are so good. They help you to achieve the following:

  • More sales
  • Reduce or stop cold calling activity
  • Higher conversions
  • More commission
  • Higher customer retention
  • Higher deal values
  • Fewer objections
  • Less time spent prospecting on the phone
  • Less time travelling
  • Fewer cancelled appointments
  • More time to sell
  • More referrals and recommendations
  • Being the top sales person month in month out
  • High job satisfaction
  • Happier customers

So what is it all about?

A referral is an existing customer providing you with a potential new customer’s contact details.

When they also contact that potential new customer stating how good your products and services are, you have achieved a recommendation.

Here are 3 tips to help you when asking for referrals/recommendations.

Tip 1. Ask for a recommendation/referral when the customer trusts you most.

This could be when:

  • They have just signed the contract
  • The product has arrived and is working to their full satisfaction
  • You have just delivered a level of service to them they truly appreciated
  • They left positive feedback about your company

Tip 2. Ask for referrals in the most specific way possible and expect to be given names there and then.

A specific question tends to trigger a specific answer. It helps the other person to focus their thinking.

An example below which you might want to adapt to suit your own style:

​“We grow our business based on customer satisfaction. May I ask you how satisfied you are with our product?

Other companies can also benefit from our products, but they are simply not aware of it yet and I hope you could help us here.

Who would you know that could be interested in hearing about what we do?”

Make sure you have pen and paper ready in anticipation. Get the names there and then including contact details. Be confident and ask for the recommendation now.

Tip 3. Ask for referrals and recommendations: if you don’t ask, you don’t get!

  • People generally like to help. You help customers with great products and services that make their business better. They are delighted and will only be too happy in helping to also help other businesses. There is plenty of opportunity for us all.

Good luck and let me know how you get on. gert.scholts@thebestsalescoach.co.uk

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#Salestips

The perfect sales pitch

Are you looking for 40 free tips to make a convincing F2F sales pitch? Read on.

A sales pitch consists of four parts:

  1. Preparation
  2. Opening
  3. Fact finding
  4. Close

In this blog, you will find 40 practical tips for the perfect sales pitch.

Preparation

If you want respect from your prospect, professional preparation is a must. The prospect will notice this and appreciate the investment you’ve made. He/she will give you more time and is likely to share their factual issues. This dramatically increases the likelihood of sales success.

10 tips checklist

  1. Check CRM system for any history.
  2. Establish clear personal objectives for the meeting. (There is no point in not expecting to get the business!)
  3. Read the prospect’s brochures and other relevant information.
  4. Design and prepare your presentation pack.
  5. Research what the prospect’s key issues might be.
  6. Gain a solid understanding of the prospect’s industry and the issues/opportunities it faces.
  7. Have selected, relevant products ready for demonstration.
  8. Confirm the meeting the day before as well as checking the prospect’s expectations.
  9. Print the prospect’s website pages, review them and show you have them during the meeting.
  10. Have your route and timings planned so you arrive with at least 15 minutes to spare.

The opening

Rapport building is important, yet the two questions most buyers will ask themselves when you walk into the meeting are: 1) Can I trust him/her? and 2) Is he/she the kind of person I can do business with?

You need to start building this professional and personal relationship at the very start of the meeting. It is a condition that allows open discussion and deep fact finding. While enthusiasm is a real must in sales, staying composed at the start of the sales call is also a must.

10 tips to open the sales meeting:

  1. Shake hands and introduce yourself (name and surname) clearly.
  2. Where needed, start with some rapport building questions.
  3. Assess the prospect’s expectations of the meeting.
  4. Position yourself as the product expert.
  5. Check the role of the person(s) you are meeting (business card.)
  6. Agree a mutual objective for the meeting.
  7. Have an agreed agenda with timings.
  8. Execute your elevator pitch perfectly (practice, practice, practice.)
  9. Check the prospect’s expectations of the meeting.
  10. Be yourself.

Fact finding

The difference between a good and a great sales person is the questions they ask and how they’re asked. The professional sales person excels in asking questions in a structured manner where he/she discovers key buying needs. These needs cover both the company requirements as well as the personal needs of the buyer. What are these needs and why? What is affecting their needs most? How will they decide? What are the decision criteria? What have they tried so far to resolve their issues? What will happen if they do not address the issues? What budget is available to address the issues?

10 tips for excellent fact finding:

  1. Be bold and ask straight away what they believe their issues are and why they invited you.
  2. Deploy a logical questioning sequence linking previous answers.
  3. Ask lots of open ended questions to get to the real deep underlying issues.
  4. Listen to the answers, re-cap and go beyond the obvious.
  5. Explore fact and emotional buying reasons at company and personal level.
  6. Use up to 75% of the time listening and 25% asking questions rather than making statements.
  7. Ask the tough questions without fear.
  8. Establish the universal key qualifiers: Budget, Needs, Timing, Decision making and Competitor activity.
  9. Make plenty of notes.
  10. Avoid “solutioning”.

Closing the call

Now you have a clear picture of the prospect’s needs and wants, you progress to the selling part of the call. Present your solution in a manner that clearly links to the requirements discovered before. This needs to be slick, logical and injected with a big dose of enthusiasm. Needless to state that your product knowledge needs to be perfect too. This is where you add real value in the prospect’s mind.

10 tips for closing the sales deal

  1. Start with a succinct recap of the key needs.
  2. Confirm these needs with the prospect.
  3. Match key product features and benefits with the prospect’s needs.
  4. Translate your product features in customer benefits.
  5. Ask for feedback throughout.
  6. Invite questions.
  7. Ask for the business.
  8. If there are objections, explore and answer.
  9. Present with enthusiasm and expectation.
  10. State examples of delighted customers.

#salespitch #salespeople #salesteammanagement

6 Rapport building tips to make more sales

6 rapport building tips.

Sales are made as a result of effective communication between buyer and seller. Building rapport lies at the heart of effective communication. Therefore, knowing how to develop rapport is key to your sales success and performance.

Below are 3 body language related and 3 general tips to build rapport with prospects in an effective way.

If you have not had much formal practice in understanding body language yet, don’t worry. We are all natural experts, but often just not aware of it yet. So have a go after reading these tips. They really work.

– Movement

Observe your prospect’s body movements, facial expression, arms and hands. What posture is the prospect assuming? What are they doing with their arms and hands? Is the person leaning forward or backward? How do they look at you?

Observe, and then match their posture and gestures.

If for example, the person is reserved in using their hands, there is no point in you gesticulating frantically to make your point. Instead show the same level of reservation.

Look at this fabulous example below showing US President Barack Obama and UK prime minister David Cameron building rapport at world leader level. They both carry their jackets over their shoulder. They are clearly in tune with each other.

– Energy level

What is your prospect’s energy level? Reserved or extrovert?

Observe their energy level and match their style.

If your prospect is wordy and engaging, then be the same. If your prospect is to the point and factual, then do the same when asking questions and presenting your products.

– Tone of voice

What is your prospect’s tone of voice? How fast do they talk?

Listen and match their style.

A softly spoken prospect will respond better to you when you match their style. Do the opposite and rapport building has just become much more difficult and the sales opportunity may disappear.

You may be interested to know that hostage negotiators across the globe have been using these techniques as a matter of life and death for years.

Here are 3 additional rapport building tips related to the sales profession

– Be yourself

The prospect will have just two questions in mind: “Can I trust him/her?” and “Can I do business with him/her?” By being yourself you will show your genuine interest in your prospect’s business success. That is a good way to build rapport.

– Be on time

Start with setting the standard of product delivery by being on time for the meeting. 15 minutes before the appointment time will work well. And if you are late, call the prospect personally. It is a great rapport building opportunity!

– Look the part

Show respect for your prospects by looking smart from hair cut to shoes and even that clean car. You are the company representative. Respect and rapport go well together.

#effectivecommunication #bodylanguage #salestechnique