Today more than ever it is necessary to know commercial techniques to positively influence the outcome of a negotiation and increase the chances that the potential customer will purchase your product or service.
We live in a world that puts us in front of dozens and dozens of advertising messages, and the competition is increasingly stronger. Yet too few entrepreneurs, sellers or freelancers realize how important it is today to know effective sales techniques to get the most out of every negotiation.
Cutthroat competition is becoming the number one enemy of modern businesses.
Try to imagine, for example, how, in recent years, the Italian commercial and entrepreneurial fabric has undergone changes that were unimaginable until recently: competition from abroad has become increasingly stronger, the advent of the internet has changed the customers’ purchasing methods, people trust sellers and salespeople less and less.
These problems did not exist until a few years ago and sellers were able to earn significant commissions without much effort.
Today, however, to be successful you have to work hard and study to keep up to date.
The sales techniques that were taught twenty or thirty years ago no longer work, which is why it is necessary to know the most modern trading techniques.
If you want to know them right away take advantage of my video course on sales. Click the red button and discover the fundamentals behind any sales strategy you want to use.
What is a trading technique?
A trading technique or sales technique is a strategy, process or method that is used by a seller to be able to close the deal successfully and more effectively.
Before going any further, I want to point out that there is no perfect sales technique. There are no magic bullets, and whatever you learn from these pages must be perfected through trial, error, and even failure. You have to get into the mind of your potential customer by also applying the commercial psychology.
Furthermore, it is important to highlight how the terms “sales process” and “sales method” are often used synonymously, even if they are not.
A sales process covers all the steps to turn a cold, unqualified prospect into a paying customer. In this case it’s about making the most of every opportunity, learning how to close a deal and improving your success rates.
A sales method or technique can be applied to virtually any sales process, but often only covers part of that process. Rather than just outlining the steps you need to take, it’s about developing a skill, increasing your concentration and improving your communication.
You might think of it this way: a sales process covers the entire negotiation, while a sales technique is the philosophy you apply to improve your sales process.
There are many sales techniques to close a deal faster and sell more than you are currently doing, but that doesn’t mean you have to do them all. Read carefully, study the information I share with you and experiment in the field with the methods and techniques that best suit your character and your way of working.
In this way I am sure that you will be able to achieve extraordinary results, continuing to be yourself without distorting the way you work and communicate.
The AIDA model
The AIDA model is an American acronym that stands for: Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action.
Let’s look at each phase below:
- Attention: First, you need to be able to capture the potential customer’s attention. You have to do this in the first few minutes of the meeting if you want to direct the negotiation in the right way. To do this, sometimes even a single sentence can be enough, if you manage to get into the customer’s head. Starting the negotiation in the right way is very important, because without capturing the customer’s attention you will hardly be able to get anything good out of the meeting.
- Interest: At this stage you absolutely must be able to pique the interest of your potential customer. This is the time when you need to present your product or service as the ideal solution to their needs and requirements. To do this, you must be able to emphasize as much as possible the problems that affect your customer and you must make him aware that you are there to help him solve them because you have the best solution for him.
- Wish: At this point you should have managed to make the customer want your product or service to finally have access to the solution to their problems. It’s important to make him imagine how his life will change for the better once he starts working with you or buying your product. As a seller, your job is to be able to stimulate your customer’s desire and make them decide to buy from you.
- Action: The moment has come when you have to ‘act’ to end the negotiation and get the customer to sign the contract or purchase from you. If you have performed all the previous steps correctly, this is the natural conclusion of the negotiation.
The AIDA model is one of the most famous and most used commercial techniques by successful sellers. Even if it is a technique that you have never used and therefore it seems to you that it is not very natural, keep practicing if you want to be able to bring home some positive results.
The SPIN Selling technique
There SPIN Selling it is one of the most used commercial techniques to be able to close a deal successfully. In this case the acronym SPIN refers to four types of questions that the seller absolutely must ask his customer during a negotiation if he wants to be able to close the sale.
SPIN is in fact the acronym for Situation, Problem, Implications, Need.
- Situation: The first questions to ask your interlocutor must help you understand their current situation. You need to understand what is going on in his life right now is why he decided to talk to you.
- Problems: Next you need to be able to find out what problems and difficulties he is facing. This is the main phase, because the answers you receive will give you the opportunity to understand what your customer is looking for and therefore you will be able to present your solution in the right way.
- Involvement (Implication): This phase is very similar to the ‘Desire’ of the AIDA method. In this case we are talking about questions to ask the client to be able to highlight the problems he is experiencing at the moment and the negative effects these have on his life.
- Needs: This is the last step, and you need to ask questions that highlight your customer’s real needs. They are questions related to the previous three phases, so the answers shouldn’t surprise you too much if you’ve done a great job.
At the end of the four phases of the SPIN Selling technique you just have to present your product or service as the ideal solution to their problems. This way it will be easier to close the negotiation with a positive outcome.
The SNAP technique
While the AIDA and SPIN Selling techniques were invented in the 1980s and refer to a totally changed world, the SNAP technique meets the needs of the modern customer.
Today people have a thousand commitments and are always in a hurry. Furthermore, the means of communication have increased and every day we are literally bombarded with dozens and dozens of advertising messages.
This is why it is essential to be able to capture the attention of a potential customer if you want to be able to close a deal, or even just make an appointment.
The SNAP technique was created precisely for be able to capture the attention of a potential buyerand it does so by answering three questions that almost everyone asks themselves when they are approached by a seller or find themselves in front of an advertisement:
- Do I really want to spend time with this seller to find out what he has to offer me?
- Is it worth changing my habits with this new offer?
- Am I making the right choice?
The SNAP sales model was created precisely to be able to correctly answer these three questions to persuade customers to make an appointment with you or purchase your product or service.
In this case, the SNAP model uses four principles to capture the attention of potential customers who don’t want to be bothered by salespeople and think they have little time available.
There are four key components to keep in mind:
- Keep it Simple : Respect your potential customers’ shopping time and make it incredibly easy to buy what you sell. When you talk on the phone, when you send an email, when you create a landing page, share only the essential information and make the purchasing process as simple as possible.
- Make yourself precious : quickly build trust with the customer and show them the value of your offer. Show that you truly understand their situation, goals and priorities if you want to get something out of them.
- Align with their needs: Understand your customers’ problems and goals. Make people want to work with you and you’ll quickly get a deal appointment.
- Raising Priorities : Every person respects certain priorities. Managing a negotiation successfully means understanding them and transforming them into a tool in your favor. Leverage customer priorities and tie in with your messages. For example, if cost savings are a top priority for your client, highlight this during the negotiation.
The SNAP technique helps you focus on the way a consumer thinks. Respond to their thoughts, priorities and goals to gain their trust and truly show them the value of your offering.
Where to find the best trading techniques
Learn new sales techniques it’s not simple at all.
Before you start, you need to be aware that you will need to work a lot, make mistakes and repeat.
When we talk about sales we are not dealing with an exact science: interpersonal dynamics are unpredictable, and even if we use principles and “methods” to increase our chances of success, we will never be certain that, in the face of a stimulus, the Our customer’s response is always positive.
Analyze the market and our arsenal of techniques brings you to a fundamental realization: we must know ourselves and our clients.
By knowing our techniques, our characteristics, our possibilities… it will be easier to be able to work with a new method that can bring you success and positive results.
A simple change of approach and a new trading technique can have a dramatic effect on your future.
With a professional system, already tested and usable in every negotiation, you will be able to obtain better results with every negotiation.