This is the biggest shift in the sales pitch and the role of the salesperson in today's day and age. It's even more so to put yourself in the position of a prospect. If one salesperson sends you a canned email asking for a 5-minute call, compared to someone who actually sends you a personalized email, and, after learning a little more about your business needs, asks for a demo. They take time to work with you to create a pitch that would match your company's goals, and, after due diligence, they work with you to ask for a close that meets your budget and your team needs.
It goes without saying that you would be more likely to choose the later salesperson.
The first salesperson is very familiar to us all, the hard-selling direct selling salesperson. Soft selling is the new sales wave where a salesperson does not just ask for a straightforward sale in an effort to close as quickly as possible but instead prioritizes a different strategy where the focus is on the quality of the relationship with the prospects.
What is Soft Sell
Soft selling is a sales approach focused on the subtle persuasion with the use of casual language, which intentionally intends to create a low-pressure sales experience for the prospect that is less likely to turn them off from excessive pushiness.
It is important to note that soft sell is not "passive" selling. Soft selling still requires a degree of persistency throughout the sales process and knowledgeable about the product or service. Additionally, persistence and product knowledge must be balanced with reliability for the prospect, all while keeping a conversational tone to help buyers feel comfortable and at ease throughout the process.
Here's a walkthrough on the 6 ways you can use to facilitate a soft sell with your prospects.
1. Do your research.
First, learn as much as you can about the prospect's current challenges and point of view. This will help you to determine if the product or service you're offering is a good fit and will enable you to make the best recommendation possible.
2. Be personable.
While you always want to remain professional when working with prospects, you don't want to be stiff or over-the-top in your communication. When making the soft sell approach, personality goes a long way.
For example:
Formal - "Hi Lee, this is Nicholas from EVERWORKS. Today I will be sharing our key product features with you."
Conversational - "Hi Lee, this is Nicholas from EVERWORKS. Before I dive into telling you about our products, can you tell me more about how your company is currently sourcing your office furniture? What is and isn't working about your current setup?"
3. Focus on relationship-building.
This is ever critical to closing the sale and establishing loyalty. When you take the time to get to know your prospects and are seen as a trusted advisor, your prospect will be more primed to purchase.
This could be as simple as remembering to ask how their day was, or following on a personal anecdote they mentioned in a prior meeting. This shows genuine interest in the prospect on a human level.
4. Actively listen.
Improve your active listening skills by engaging in the following steps:
- Truly listen to what your prospect shares with you.
- Repeat content back to the prospect.
- Ensure you are understanding them correctly by asking for clarification and getting verbal agreement from the prospect after repeating content back.
5. Ask thoughtful questions.
When you ask relevant, open-ended questions to your prospect it shows your genuine interest in helping them to solve their problem.
6. Provide value without asking for the sale.
This is the biggest go and is the biggest factor in today's day and age. When you have provided them with a good experience - even if it doesn't immediately result in the sale. Ultimately, you want to show your prospect that they're top of mind.
Effectively salespersons know how to assess what sales approach to use to best engage with their prospects. Salespersons also know the importance of having a reliable online infrastructure to support the tools they need to conduct effective sales. Learn more at everworks.com
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