Over the course of a sales career spanning three decades, Laird Comber has learned how to sell almost anything to anyone.
By focusing on people, products, process and customers, the Toronto-based sales professional has closed landmark deals with an array of major Canadian companies, including Grainger, Tenaquip, Vallen, Fastenal, SPI, Whitecap, Source Atlantic, Wesco/Hazmasters, MSC, Cintas, Motion, Bunzl and Linde.
His list of achievements is long, but his principles of sales success are simple and concise. Recently he boiled down these basic tenets to the five best things you can do to engage the customer and make the deal:
1. Listen and Ask the Right Questions
Effective communication requires active listening, which is essential for establishing and maintaining rewarding relationships. Based on what you hear the customer saying, you can ask the right questions. Not only does this reassure the prospective customer, but it helps you understand your audience — their needs, preferences and pain points. This allows you to tailor solutions.
2. Find Common Ground / Build Reassurance
Listening closely to the customer demonstrates respect, and sets the stage for finding common ground and achieving a win-win outcome.
“Generally, negotiating entails making both parties feel good, so by emphasizing the gain on both ends the mindset for a successful closing can be understood and will reveal itself,” says Comber.
Seeking common ground leads to greater trust. “Coupling this with positive customer reviews from the same market channel (e.g., mining, oil/gas, construction, industrial) and leveraging other success with positive feedback from customers builds reassurance,” Comber adds. “This also then can move nicely towards cross-selling opportunities to sell other product categories, brands or an expanded product lineup to the target audience. A good sample/trial product can also add value to help generate revenue.”
3. Negotiate in Stages
Sometimes breaking things down simplifies the process for the customer and salesperson alike. Handle each element of the process in stages, such as timing, price, competitive advantages and take-away wins for each criterion. “With this approach, the overall challenge doesn’t seem to be as overwhelming,” Comber says.
4. Make It a Team Effort
There are great Lone Ranger salespeople, but especially at the multi-million dollar level, a team effort is central to success. The most effective teams require leadership.
“Empower your team members by giving them responsibility and autonomy to boost productivity,” Comber says. “Trusting your team to make decisions and having them take ownership of their work is key. Trust is essential and naturally built on integrity. Accountability is also key. Not only should sales leaders hold themselves accountable, but sales teams must be held responsible for their actions and achieving results. In addition, leading by example sets a positive tone for your team and demonstrates the behavior that you wish to see exhibited.”
5. Stay Organized and Disciplined
A strong work ethic is the foundation for success in sales, Comber advises. He describes its elements as persistency, consistency and resiliency, coupled with self-motivation.
An ambitious salesperson also needs to be well-organized. “Practice good habits, as success happens over time,” he says. “You can’t make your sales goal in one day, so ensuring you have the right process and believing that you are doing the right things daily will result in achieving good results.”
