When you have a serious target to hit you need to use some serious sales techniques. My strategies are designed to be low cost and high return methods.

photo credit: guiguis

1) Qualify - they qualify again - so if you want to hit your targets make sure you qualify the price straight away - no point in going in to sell a $100,000 solution to a client with a $1,000 budget.

2) Find out what they want - don’t tell them what what you want to sell. The most frequent mistake is where a salesman is selling a system and talking about benefits that mean nothing to the prospect. If you find out what pushes their buttons before you start then you can tailor your presentation to exactly that. As an example if you are selling case management and that includes some time billing system but the client is not interested in time recoding at all then there is no point in focussing on it. If you are selling a system that includes an accounts function but you are presenting to someone that does not understand accounts then don’t show that part.

3) Be professional - your competitors are good, you are great - never slag off (bad mouth) competitors it makes you look as bad as them. As I said they are good you are great.

4) If you can talk from experience - I am at an advantage here in that we use our own software to run our own business. Our product keeps electronic files and manages them, I know the benefits so I talk like a user. Nothing like showing faith in your own products - if you can talk from experience then

5) Last but not least - don’t give anything away - no point in discounting - what every client wants is a good system implemented well. If you did number 1, then you are in budget anyway then that should be fine. IF YOU HAVE to lower the price trade this action with a date to get your order. After all if you simply lower your price then what’s to stop me asking you to do it again and again unless I place an order at the new agreed price?

6) Leave - something in the kitty bag - have a little more to show, a little something for them to crave, something to tip a deal -

I said 10 points didn’t I? Yes I did, however, I’ll trade you for the other 4 points, and they are killer points. When this article has 1000 reads and 10 comments I’ll put in the other 4 points!

Good luck, and stay positive!

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