Three Key Elements: Effective Sales Sessions

Three Key Elements: Effective Sales Sessions

There are three key elements that you need to keep in mind when sitting with a customer, in person or over the phone, in Financial Sales:

1. First Impressions are often the last ones: Clean your desk. Get rid of the clutter. Looking across a busy desk, the customer may perceive you as being too busy to resolve their financial needs. Make a good first impression and show them they are a priority.

2. Focus on your customer: Ask open-ended questions to get to know at least three needs that the customer may have before jumping into suggesting a solution for them right away. One customer's need may be tied to a few others, and if the right open-ended questions are not asked, you may end up suggesting something that does not work for the customer. So focus on ‘actively discovering’ at least three needs before you hand out a potential solution.

3. Don’t assume: Keep an open mind to all that the customer shares with you. Use keywords to make quick notes. Don’t write sentences while the customer is speaking with you. This may lead you to miss key information pieces that you may require to suggest a solution for your customers’ need. Once the customer has done speaking with you, confirm what you have heard by repeating the keywords that you have captured.

Doing the above stated three things will not only make your sales sessions more interactive but these will also engage the customer at a level where information gathering would become a simple task for you. When sitting with a customer, think of yourself as a Financial Doctor. Just like how you would be reluctant to go to a medical officer who would prescribe a medicine without hearing you out completely, customers may often feel the same way coming to you with their financial issues if you don’t give them an opportunity to be heard completely.