What if there is a way to sell more by selling less? Here are four tips for changes that you can make that will lead you to not trying so hard, and you might just end up selling more at the same time:

 

1. Minimize the product and company talk tracks

A typical salesperson will jump to talking about their products and company as soon they can. This can actually have a negative impact on your results for a couple of reasons.

First, prospects don’t mind buying something, but they don’t like being sold to. As soon as a salesperson starts talking about their products and company, the other person begins to feel like a prospect and that they are being pitched. This is where their guard begins to go up and that is never good.

Another reason why this is counterproductive is that every minute that a salesperson talks about their own stuff is a minute that could have been spent talking about the prospect. When salespeople jump to this area and primarily stay there, they miss out on great opportunities to learn more about the prospect.

 

2. Don’t try to sell to everybody

A common error that salespeople make is that they will try to sell to every prospect that they cross paths with. The problem with this is that not all of those prospects are good prospects and this leads to wasted time trying to get prospects to purchase that are not a good fit.

When a salesperson can have clarity around what their ideal prospect looks like, they can then make better decisions about which prospects to be persistent with and which ones to walk away from.

If you are able to do this, you will find that you are selling less because you are becoming more selective about who you spend your valuable time with. And the prospects that you end up pursuing fit better so you will not have to try as hard to sell when it is time to sell.

 

3. Screen prospects by asking good qualifying questions

To identify if a prospect is in the general vicinity of what you consider an ideal prospect, you should ask qualifying questions. You can do this when trying to hold back from talking too quickly about your products and company.

In other words, before you get started on pitching your products, you can ask questions to learn more about the prospect. By you learning more about the prospect, not only are you going to identify if they are someone that you should try to sell to, but you are also building rapport and not triggering guardedness.

 

4. Focus on the right immediate goal

We all have the same ultimate goal and that is to close a sale or get a new client/customer. But well before that ultimate goal is an immediate goal and for many of us that can look like an appointment, phone conversation, meeting, etc.

One of the most common mistakes that salespeople make is that they always operate with a mindset where they are trying to reach the ultimate goal. Even in a first contact, they are trying to say things that lead to the ultimate goal.

But that is not the optimum way to go, and you can immediately improve your results by shifting toward trying to focus more on the immediate goal. Focus on scheduling the appointment and simply starting the conversation.

Not only is this a direction that the prospect has less ability to use an objection (not having budget is not a reason to have a conversation), but is an approach where you will achieve more by selling less.