How to Take the Lead in ANY Sales Situation

By Marcus Sheridan, www.TheSalesLion.com

Have you ever had a customer that comes into your store and finds what he/she is looking for and then just starts asking a million random questions?

Or have you had a customer that kept jumping from product to product and all you could do was just try and keep up?

Well if you said ‘no’ to either one of these or similar questions, the chances are that you haven’t been in sales very long, as they are an all-too-common part of the life of a salesperson.

Now let me ask you another question: How often do you make a sale when the customer , and not you, is in charge?

Great Sales People are Great Leaders

Many salespersons underestimate this imperative truth:

In order to experience the highest success, the Salesperson, not the customer, must be in charge.

This truth stems from the fact that in order for a salesperson to make a sale, they (at least in most cases) most come across as credible, knowledgeable, and trustworthy. In other words, they must earn the customer’s respect.

This is done by the salesperson taking the leading, asking quality questions, diagnosing the customer’s needs, and then offering appropriate solutions. If this process doesn’t occur, the chances of the sale go way down.

So this brings us to our next question: How does a salesperson take charge of a sales presentation without coming across as a controlling jerk?

Taking charge without coming across as a jerk can be a little trying at times, but I have found the best method is to simply ask the customer permission….in a tactful way.

Let’s assume you sell furniture. This is how it would sound:

Salesperson: (after some light small-talk) “I want to thank you Mr. and Mrs. Jones for coming in our store today to look for your living room suite and I appreciate the fact that you are excited to see our products. Over the past few years, I’ve helped many customers just like you to find the perfect living room suite to meet their needs for many years to come. In order to do this properly so that you don’t have any buying mistakes I’m going to need to ask you all some questions up front. How does that sound to you?”

Customer: “Ok, that sounds fine.”

Now if what I just described sounds simple it’s because it is. The key is to tell the customer, in plain terms, the following:

You are an expert at what you do.
You’ve helped many people just like them.
You do to make any mistakes, wrong decisions, lose money, etc.
You’ll need to ask them a few questions up front.
Finish with a statement like: ‘How’s that sound?’

As soon as the customer answers ‘yes’ to this final question, they have essentially given you, the sales professional, charge and lead of the conversation. Having recognized your authority, you can now proceed with the sales presentation and have the full attention of the customer.

As I mentioned earlier, this technique may sound trite and simple, but it is easily one of the most critical components to successful sales. And now, as salespersons attempting to be the best we can possibly be, may we follow the words of John C Maxwell when he said:

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”