99% Salespeople Hate Their Jobs Because They Fail at This Skill of The Top 1%
The one trick that can elevate the sales conversion ratio of an average salesperson and make them a rockstar
Introduction
Let me tell you a situation that changed the way cars are being sold in a nation-wide car sales showroom brand.
Disclaimer: For the sake of education (read: legal reasons) all the names mentioned below are fictional. However, the learning is 100% authentic.
So, there’s this car brand called Darusi.
They have over 1000+ showrooms all across the country, but one observation made in one showroom was instrumental in Darusi changing their sales process company-wide for good.
So, Darusi had a showroom in this Tier-II city called Patinda.
The showroom was small and had scope only for 2 salespeople in the showroom.
In this showroom, every 2 months one of the salespeople would keep leaving their job and the other salesperson would earn commissions that were among the best in the entire country.
For the sake of this post, let’s refer to this rockstar salesperson as Ranbir.
This post is about how Ranbir sold more cars than all his peers and how did Ranbir cause Darusi to change their sales methodology for good.
Why do salespeople get a bad name?
So, in the Patinda showroom, Ranbir would always allow the peer salesperson to attend to the client, but over time it was observed that most clients would ask for Ranbir 5-10 minutes into the sales meeting.
Most of peers would leave within a couple of weeks of joining the job, because prospects would ask for Ranbir, and he would manage to sell cars to almost 90% of the people who he would attend.
For your benefit of understanding the average sales closing percentage in the industry is 50%.
More often than not, sales as a profession gets a really bad name.
Customers (at large) tend to have minimal conversations with the salesperson because salespeople are infamous for trying to oversell every prospect.
What was Ranbir doing?
Continue reading till the end to learn his secret
Is sales easy to learn?
Answer to this question is relative to the person, their attitude, their hunger to learn, the product, etc.
However, in the bigger scheme of things, sales isn’t a difficult skill to teach, but it’s a rather difficult skill to learn/ master.
The reason this happens is because most salespeople tend to miss that one thing that made Ranbir great.
What makes an average salesperson great?
Before I tell you, what Ranbir did, let me tell you what most salespeople were doing.
Imagine you’re the customer walking into the Patinda showroom of Darusi.
The salesperson would greet you, and ask you what sort of a car are you looking for, a hatchback/ sedan/ SUV/ or premium options?
Sounds like a reasonable question, right?
On the basis of your answer, the salesperson would give you the option that he/ she felt was best suited for you.
However, imagine entering the Patinda showroom and greeted by Ranbir.
Ranbir would give you a smile and ask you…. “Hey Sir/ Madam, welcome to Darusi. How can I serve you today? What kind of needs are you looking for from your next car to serve your family?”
Did you notice the subtle difference?
It’s literally right there in front of your eyes.
Look closely.
Ranbir didn’t ask what car the prospect was looking for.
Ranbir asked what were the needs/ expectations/ demands from their next car.
While other salespeople were focused on what car they sell to their customers and earn their commission cheque, Ranbir cared about what the customer (and family) needed so that he could make the best recommendations on the basis of the needs of the customer.
This may seem like a trivial and insignificant change, but it makes a world of a difference in the world of sales.
Difference to the point that this behaviour not only got Ranbir to sell more cars, but his customers would also refer Ranbir to their friends, colleagues, family members, etc.
How, you wonder? Read the conclusion and get your access to the secret in the mind of the customer(s).
Conclusion
Most salespeople aren’t good at sales because they try to push the product to the customer’s needs.
Focus of these salespeople is predominantly on closing the sale.
However, Ranbir’s focus was slightly different right from day 01.
Ranbir never tried to force fit any option in the lives of the customers.
He would clearly understand the needs and recommend multiple options (across the budget) and then would help the customers to choose and select the option that’s best for them (and their budget).
While other salespeople cared about their commission, Ranbir focused only on helping the customer buy the car(s) that were perfect for the needs of the customers.
This is the subtle shift in the mindset that can help you sell any product/ service.
Instead of telling what your brand/ business offers, you first need to establish a clear understanding of the needs of the customer before you make any recommendations.
People are open to making a purchase quicker when they feel heard and they feel empowered to make all the right decisions, on the basis of unbiased information served to them by the salesperson.
Next time you talk to the prospect, do not offer any recommendations/ options unless you have a clear understanding of their needs.
Ranbir did this intuitively and eventually led to an overall shift in the sales process of Darusi.
Your Thoughts!
Did you catch and capture the subtle shift mentioned in the note?
Do you now see the impact of understanding the needs of the prospects before making your offer?
Do you agree that Ranbir’s method is powerful and effective and can be applied to your (and every) business?
Let’s continue this conversation (or ask your questions about the post) in the comments below.
Keep Going Keep Growing 🚀
Have I earned your share?
Thank you for reading the full post. Since you read this till the end, it’s safe to assume you found value in the content.
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Share this with them, help them and earn your blessings.
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Prompt used to create the image for the note
P.S.: Image made on Meta AI using the prompt, “Imagine a salesperson looking extremely happy looking at the paycheck of commissions for the month”