By: Felicia Mahabeer

What Approach Do You Use?

Have you ever been out shopping and had the salesperson ask you, “Are you going to buy this or what?” This once happened to me while I was shoe shopping. At first, I was put off by the frank question, but the urgency in his voice prompted me to act, so I bought the shoes.

Was he being rude, or was it a sales tactic? I don’t know, but it worked. I started to think about the different approaches used in dealerships around the world. Could a sales associate get away with saying something similar to a potential consumer? I can imagine some of people being turned off, while I can picture others saying “yes.” This is why a good salesperson is aware of all the tactics used to make a sale.

Hard Selling

Hard sell strategies are aggressive and usually put a high amount of pressure on the customer, like my shoes for instance. Other tactics include cold calls, forceful sales letters, and unsolicited pitches.
The main advantage of hard selling is that it gets you straight to the point. This is especially important for consumers who are ready to buy and aren’t looking to still shop around. The decision should be made now, and you want to step up and offer yourself as a part of their team.

The problem with the hard sell is that when it’s done too aggressively, your attempt to help will be seen as an annoyance. This is especially important in the case of well-researched consumers who are savvy to such sales techniques. No matter how genuine your offer, it might come off sounding like a scam. The bottom line is that your job as sales representative is to sell. Your customer should already be aware of this, so don’t be afraid to get straight to the point.

Soft Selling

Soft selling focuses on the relationship-building aspect of sales. You don’t put psychological pressure on potential buyers. Instead, you find passive ways to show them that you have the solutions they need. There is, however, such a thing as taking an approach that’s “too soft.” Being too gentle with your sales approach might also give clients the impression that you’re not too confident about your services, or that you’re just not interested in working with them.

Soft selling may work in some cases, but it doesn’t make sense to apply those tactics to all of your clients. It’s really dependent on where they are in their buying cycle and what services you’re trying to sell. Experiment to see how your target consumers responds to a soft sell, but don’t spend all your effort using these techniques exclusively.

Action

Whatever approach you use, there’s one thing you should always do at the end of the sales conversation: ask for the order. From a simple, “Will we be working together on this project?” to the more overt, “Buy Now!” there should always be a call to action to indicate the start of a working relationship.

What tactic do you use in your dealerships? What approach works better for you?