Sales WIFI

In their preliminary assessment of the company’s staff and general work environment the research group identified a lack of humour in the work place as being a likely factor behind the poor sales record of the sales team. They proposed a radical idea and that was that management encourage the telling of a few good sales jokes during the course of the following month to determine whether a happier work environment resulted and whether this in turn led to greater productivity and most importantly sales targets being reached.

Each member of the sales team as well as those in administration and management were provided with a selected number of sales jokes and other funny anecdotes. Each person was asked to tell at least one joke each week. They were to record how they felt when they told the sales jokes or stories and also the reaction they received form the other staff listening to them.

At the end of one month the productivity levels across all sections of the company had improved. The sales team had achieved the highest sales figures in more than 18 months and this was during a relatively tough economic cycle. By telling one of two sales jokes during the course of the working day the sales team had become much happier, each person in the sales team felt that they were more confident and had developed a much stronger bond with the other members in the team. The team worked much more cooperatively and helped one another out in achieving sales targets.

In the administration area of the company staff were also happier and keen to come to work. They felt that their jobs were less monotonous and were keen to ensure that their work was checked thoroughly and any invoices went out on time. This impacted on the cash flow of the company because with invoices going out sooner, payments were received quicker and there was no requirement to rely on overdraft facilities to fund purchase and other operational costs.

At a management level there was a much better relationship cultivated between managers and staff. Whereas before managers had felt isolated and disliked by staff simply by adding a touch of humour through some good sales jokes, management and staff related much better.

The mood therefore not only improved in the sales area but by the simple telling of a few funny sales jokes those staff in administration and management were also uplifted and became much more enthusiastic and friendly and as a result the company turned its operations around and produced a large profit at the end of the financial year.

If you are looking to improve your sales figures and profitability then consider your work environment and do not be afraid to encourage humour in the office. You will reap rewards in more ways than one!

Working in a sales environment can be really tough and you need to know the tricks of the trade to succeed and be a top salesperson. You need to be able to speak to people with ease and feel confident in your abilities to sell products and services to total strangers.

While there are many different sales techniques that you can learn and be successful with there are also other practices that you can implement. One of these is telling the best sales jokes during your conversation with your customers. If you have never thought about using jokes during your sales conversations you may be keen to learn more. So what makes the best sales jokes?

To start with you need to make sure that the jokes that you have in your repertoire are relevant to selling products. In other words you do not need to start telling jokes about anything that is unsuitable for the subject you are discussing. If you start going off track when you are telling a joke to a customer you will start to lose the thread of your conversation.

When this happens you are not likely to close the deal and make your sale. So make sure that your jokes are in keeping with the type of conversation that you are having with your customers. Next you need to make sure that you do not tell any jokes that could be seen as offensive.

While this may be common sense to many people there are still plenty of salespeople who overstepped the mark when they are trying to tell the best sales jokes. When you do this you instantly create hostility between yourself and your customer and this will put a stop to making a sale with them. So before you tell a joke to a customer make sure that you are clear in your mind it will not cause offence to anyone.

To check this why not tell a joke you find humorous to your boss? If he or she laughs and gives you the go ahead then you know that you have a really great sales joke under your belt that you can bring out when the time is right.

When you are thinking about what makes the best sales jokes you should also make sure that you do not tell too many jokes. Your customers do not want to be on the phone with a comedian.

They want to get great information from you about the products or services that you are selling and have a laugh along the way. So even if you have several fantastic jokes don’t go in for the overkill or this could have the opposite effect to what you are looking for.

Now you know what makes the best sales jokes you need to start trying them out on your customers. Remember to relax and enjoy yourself and this will shine through in your conversation.

So good luck and hopefully you will soon see your sales start to increase.

Whenever I coach someone on sales the question inevitably comes up: When is the best time to ask for the close?

Any sales training program will tell you that closing the sale is the most important part of the consultative selling process. Many sales courses extensively cover the importance of closing lines. A good sales coaching program goes further, it tells you exactly when to close. You may know all of the closing lines available in a consultative selling process but without knowing when to use them you could make a bad mistake.

First a little background on this… Why is it important for a sales course to tell you when to ask for a close? The first concern from a sales coaching perspective is asking for the close too early in a sales presentation may be seen as pushy. If you are seen as pushy then the advantage you gain from a consultative selling point is lost. Your expert status suddenly means nothing. An even worse situation is not asking for the close at all. I believe all sales courses cover this well. According to studies, up to 80% of sales are consistently lost due to not asking for the close in any manner.

The benefit of sales coaching is discovering and learning exactly when to ask for the close. When done correctly in the frame of the consultative selling model, your prospects will perceive you as friendly, confident, knowledgeable. This is exactly how you want to be perceived to maximize referrals from the prospects associates, friends and family.

Back to the answer, a good sales coaching program will teach you the correct time to ask for the close is once you have convinced your client of the value of your product or service. Specifically the value to your particular individual prospect. When you have established enough value through consultative selling your prospect will be willing to purchase whatever it is youre selling. This will make your sales job much easier.

Now another great sales coaching tip, the easiest way to determine when your prospect is ready to be closed, is to use a test close. Many sales training courses do not emphasize how important this little step is. A test close is a way of checking in with the client to determine when enough value has been established. This is of the utmost concern in the consultative selling model.

To use a test close is a simple and straight forward step. The questions are easy and direct. Many sales coaching programs dont make it clear on how to use this powerful technique. The questions you might decide to ask are:

Do you see any value in this product?

Does our service resonate with you?

Does it feel like this may be a good fit for you?

To add even more power to the test close make sure to use the secrets of Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Your prospect will definitely thank you with more sales.

Checking in with a test close is a great way to determine where your client sees himself in the sales process. If you have not established enough value, you will know because your client will tell you he is not convinced yet. At this point you need to go back and discover exactly what it is that your client wants solved.

The fact is the majority of sales are lost because of a sales professionals lack of asking for the close. Whether asking for the close too early or not at all, the result is the same. No sale. Knowing when to ask for the close definitely helps increase your sales.