2 Means To Nurture A Selling Conversation Identification and implementation of favourable sales conditions is a step that cannot be afforded to skip and here's what you need to do

It has been aptly said that at the core of direct sales is the conversation. Entrepreneurs ought to be thinking about plans to improve their own sales effectiveness and the efficiency of their employees. The founder of a start-up is the most effective salesperson in the company and should lead his workforce by example. The success or failure of a start-up depends on the founder's efficacy to attract and retain customers.

The surest way to increase sales is to improve the selling conversation. Marketing research has proven that in most cases, a prospective customer will decide within the first 7 seconds of a conversation whether he wants to do business with you or not. So the introductory part of any sales conversation is as important as the entire process.

The best salespeople are consistently working towards improving their sales effectiveness by competing against their own selves. They do so by identifying their strengths and weaknesses and outdoing themselves the next time they get an opportunity to sell.

Guideline #1: Ensuring Favorable Condition

A selling conversation needs to be conducted only after ensuring favourable conditions, where there are zero disruptions and the prospect is open-minded to the idea of exploring business with you. So what exactly goes into making "favourable conditions" for you and your business? Maybe it is about making sure you have sufficient time for the conversation. Maybe it has to do with preparation on your part on the subject matter to be discussed – maybe psychological preparedness on the prospect's part. Maybe the business appointment needs to be given a much-needed "human touch" by some preliminary activity that will render essential sales orientation to the prospective customer.

Identification and implementation of favourable sales conditions is a step that cannot be afforded to skip.

Guideline #2: Preparing For The Selling Conversation By Getting Into The Right Frame Of Mind

Your mindset or attitude that you have formed about the Selling Conversation is one of the key factors that determine sales success. You need to perceive yourself as someone who can partner with the prospect with a view to achieving his or her goals, not as someone who is merely pleading for business. Positive assertions and self-coaching can be extremely instrumental in creating a winning mindset for the selling conversation.

Don'tapproach the meeting thinking you are just playing the role of a salesperson. Convince yourself that you are a genuinely caring well-wisher, a helper, a problem-solver who is going to promise solutions that will make the potential customer's life easier and better in more ways than one.

Vanilla approaches to marketing and selling will seldom help the business in achieving success. Innovation as a way of doing business should not be restricted to the product, service or solution being offered to the customers. It can be adopted into the selling and marketing processes and efforts too, in order for the business to be customer-centric. When customers are served in the best possible way, businesses are on the right track. There is no doubt that selling can be challenging at times, but that is the only way for a business to thrive in the competitive landscape, be result-oriented and achieve the growth by scaling up sales aggressively. Business owners and sales personnel should undertake the joint responsibility of mastering the art of salesmanship in a constructive, conscious and motivated manner. Only then will increased sales conversion rates be actioned.