Avoid these common mistakes that salesmen often make

This post came out from The Straits Times (18 October 2011)
Title - Get your clients to say yes - Avoid these common mistakes that salesmen often make

Some pointers that I've got are:
1. You talk more than you listen
2. You are not buyer centric
3. Your pitch is forgettable

On You talk more than you listen

• When your well-oiled sales pitch focuses too much on your product or services, you lose the chance to truly understand what your client needs. People buy with their emotions. 
• To cash in on your clients' emotions, start by listening and engaging them in a conversation. You should build sufficient rapport with your client and create either a knowledge or dream gap large enough to drive your client into buying from you.
• A knowledge gap - When your client discovers there is something he doesn't know or something that others know and he doesn't, a knowledge gap is created. You generate interest, involve clients and you cause the pain of not knowing. Entice your clients with tidbits of knowledge that they don't ave instead of telling them everything. This sets them thinking and hunting for more. 
• The dream gap - The dream gap is that between your current status (X) and desired state (Y), which is what you want to achieve. A skilful salesman is able to get his prospective client to experience the gap during the conversation. The bigger the gap, the more emotional pain it will generate, and the more the client will be motivated to take the necessary action to achieve the desired state. And of course, the savvy salesman will position his product or service as the solution to bridging the gap.

On You are not buyer centric

• One of the most important questions to ask yourself as a salesman is "What's in it for your buyers?". What you think are benefits to your clients are really just features. For a benefit to be effective, it needs to either bring your client pleasure or take them away from pain. 
• It also helps if you know what your client's current status (X) and desired state (Y) are. The current status will give you clues to your client's source of dissatisfaction while the desire state will reveal his wants. 

On Your pitch is forgettable

• Most sales pitches will be forgotten the minute you leave the room because: They don't involve the buyer; the benefits are too abstract; and there is too much talk but too little show.
• Provide tangible paybacks - Ensure that your benefits have concrete paybacks that your clients can really experience, for example, saving $2,000 on medical bills and beauty products every year when they exercise regularly with your product because it keeps them healthy and youthful-looking. If you can get your clients to imagine the benefits they will get when they buy your product or service, all the better, because research shows that imagination has the power to make your sales pitch stick memorably. 
• Show more, tell less - (1) Tell a story - Think of an interesting tale that can do for your sales, (2) Make an analogy - Tailor your pitch according to how your client's mind works, (3) Use a picture - A picture speaks a thousand works, (4) Include props where needed for effect. 

Yours,
Something Small Thinking Big