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Any tips on being a new salesman?

Phokus

Phokus

Lifer
Yeah yeah, we get no respect... Well, i just finished an internship and school and i'm going to grad school, but i picked up a part-time job as a wireless salesman at those kiosks in malls (we service both AT&T and T-Mobile). I did alright for my first week. I sold 3 plans the first day, 3 plans the second day, 9 plans on sunday, and only 1 plan today (we get around 50 bucks per plan). Sunday was an awesome day, i made around $450. I hear at a few of the other malls though there are salesmen that average like 12 phones a day (about 600 bucks a day). I want to start making that kind of money, but i don't think i have all the necessary skills to do it. I know the basic principle of "ABC" (always be closing). Any tips or any good literature i should read would be nice.
 
Pick up some of the books or videos from Zig Zigler, and there's another guy named Tom something or other. He was really popular in the 80's. His stuff was pretty good.

It's all about your attitude. I was in sales for a while (3 months or so) selling copiers. The job sucked balls, but I was tired of getting my hands dirty as a mechanic.

Sales is the only job that you can double your pay without working more hours. After you read all those books though, just remember that obnoxious salesmen are worse than plaintiff attorneys on the food chain. My two best friends are in sales, but at the wholesale level with distributors, they do very well.
 
From a former salesman (me):

1. Listen to what the customer wants (** THIS IS KEY **)
2. Always be honest (if customer finds out you lied to them, they'll never be back)
3. Don't be pushy (big turnoff for customers, you'll lose more sales than you'd gain by being pushy)
4. Take the time to demonstrate the item completely (an informed customer is more confident of their purchase and therefore happier)
5. The most expensive item is not always the best choice for the customer (see rule #1)
6. Know your product, and if you don't know, look it up! (no BSing the customer trying to look smart)

Follow these 6 rules and you'll be a successful salesman. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: N8Magic
From a former salesman (me):

1. Listen to what the customer wants (** THIS IS KEY **)
2. Always be honest (if customer finds out you lied to them, they'll never be back)
3. Don't be pushy (big turnoff for customers, you'll lose more sales than you'd gain by being pushy)
4. Take the time to demonstrate the item completely (an informed customer is more confident of their purchase and therefore happier)
5. The most expensive item is not always the best choice for the customer (see rule #1)
6. Know your product, and if you don't know, look it up! (no BSing the customer trying to look smart)

Follow these 6 rules and you'll be a successful salesman. 🙂
Click to expand...

 
Originally posted by: N8Magic
Follow these 6 rules and you'll be a successful salesman. 🙂
Click to expand...
No no no, follow those rules to be a good salesman. Wrangling customers into stuff they didn't know they wanted will make you a successful salesman.😉
 
Being a good salesman is pretty simple IMO: simply learn everything you can about the product you're selling. Find out all of the features and benefits that your product has over your competitors'. Become truly excited about the product, and believe in it; and believe that by selling your product to the customer, you will actually be helping them out. Once you do that (which, granted, is hard or even impossible for some products) then your enthusiasm will naturally come out and you can't help but making sales. You will have a smile on your face as you literally let the product sell itself, with you as the mediator.
 
Don't forget to tell all your male customers that they will get laid much more often because of their new phone. Sex sells.

😉


EDIT: Oh yeah, the other points about knowing your product and being enthusiastic are good too. 🙂

 
You work at a kiosk, which means nearly every person you talk to wants to buy a phone. Otherwise, they would have walked right on by and not stopped. So all you have to do is find out what is holding them back, and overcome their objections.

What do they want? Lowest monthly cost? Most minutes? Coolest phone? Most features? Free phone? Pay no more than $30/month? Widest coverage area? Prepaid plan? No roaming charge? Find out what they want in a cell plan. You gotta know what they want before you can start pushing. You want to treat someone who has never owned a cell a lot different than someone who wants to switch. "Oh, you're switching from AB&C Cellular? We have a lot of new customers who used to be with AB&C in the past. What got you thinking about switching?" Now you know what to emphasize in your sales pitch.

You want to steer them to the plans that match up with what they want, but let them think they are making the choice. Just like buying a car, if they tell you what they want to pay, you got 'em. Let's say you find out they want a $30/month plan. "We have THREE great plans for UNDER $30 a month. And one even includes a free GammaRay Z-100X phone! You can have that phone free with a plan that gives you 150 any time minutes a month. Or, if you need more minutes, our 250 minutes a month plan is only $26.99 a month and you can choose from any of these five new phones at a 40% discount. Would you prefer more minutes, or the free phone?"

No matter what they answer, they are just getting more and more comfortable in saying "yes". Notice that either choice is drawing them in. That's more effective than a question where they can just say no and walk away.

When you don't close a sale, think about what happened. What kept that customer from signing up? Some people are just wasting your time, of course, but you'll probably learn more from the sales you DON'T make than the ones you do. That way when you have another customer like that, you'll know what to do differently. If you feel someone is wasting your time and another customer comes up, give the first one a "Do you have any other questions?" They'll probably leave if they aren't serious, and you can immediately jump on the next person.
 
I am one of the top salesmen at my store. I do not pressure. Customers like that because I know my stuff, I am honest, I don't pressire them
 
Originally posted by: Deeko
I am one of the top salesmen at my store. I do not pressure. Customers like that because I know my stuff, I am honest, I don't pressire them
Click to expand...

Werd.

I followed the same things, and I was THE top salesman in my department, and I got a personal (ie. not a form letter) letter from the President of the largest retailer in Canada because I recieved so many customer commendations. (and my numbers were good)

Pressure tactics may get you the immediate sale, but will generally not build a return-customer base.
 
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