What is the Best Sales Technique?

I have a kayak! Brand new, can’t wait to take it out on the water. Now, owning a kayak means you also own other things, like paddles or a life jacket. If you've have the opportunity to read any of the literature that the Coast Guard puts out about being in any kind of watercraft of this type, you’d also know that that they consider a life jacket, also known as a personal flotation device (or PFD) a must. In all of their pamphlets, booklets, handouts, they have the same Q and A: What is the best PFD? Answer: the one that you will wear.

I thought about this in conjunction with selling (and yes, my brain does make connections that like). What is the best sales technique? The one that you will use.

There’s a lot to be said for that approach. If you are so uncomfortable with certain sales techniques that it negatively impacts on your ability to make phone calls or go out on sales calls or even ask for an agreement, than you want to re-think your approach to sales.

If you can’t use a sales technique, then don’t. There are a lot of different ideas in the world about how to sell. Some of them you will agree with, some you won’t. I've been selling and training people to sell for a long time - and I often find myself disagreeing with others about the best way to sell. There’s lots of room for different types of techniques. Because here’s the kicker: there is no one best way. There’s only the best way for you.

What will work best for you will take into account your own comfort zones and your personality preferences as well as your customers’ needs and preferences. Certain closes that will make one prospect run into the next time zone to get away from you will be expected by another. Certain techniques work better with certain types of sales. There’s a huge difference between a product sale that’s transactional vs. one that will be the start of a longer or even an ongoing relationship.

So just as I spent time trying on various types of life jackets for fit and comfort, you may want to try on different sales techniques for fit and comfort as well. After all, if you won’t use your sales “life jacket” it can’t help keep your selling efforts afloat.