My answer to this is generally ‘no’.  I have always felt I’m not a natural ‘sales person’.  However, a feature by Ismail Khan, a marketing specialist in UAE made me think again.

 

Ismail believes there are four key skills a great salesperson needs:

 

1.     Effective information gathering
2.     How that information is used
3.     Delivering information effectively
4.     Closing – seal the deal

 

Ismail believes when you follow this format, you ‘nail sales’.  Below is the conversation he outlined using these four components:

 

‘Sell me this pen’. The mistake here is to go straight into its benefits.  Instead, Ismail asked a question..

‘When did you last use a pen’

‘This morning’

‘Do you remember what kind of pen you used’

‘No’

‘Why were you using a pen?’

‘To sign contracts’

‘Would you agree signing those contracts is an important event for the business?  It’s a memorable event, which demands a memorable pen.  We grew up our entire lives using any pen to get the job done – shopping lists etc.  We didn’t give it much thought because they weren’t memorable events.  This pen is a memorable pen.  It’s a pen to get deals done.  It’s a symbol for taking this company to the next level.  When you use the right tool, you’re in the right mindset and become more productive.  Actually, last week I shipped 10 boxes of these pens to Elon Musk’s office.  This is my last pen today.  So I suggest you get this one.  Try it out.  If you are not happy with it, I will personally come back next week to pick it up.  It won’t cost you anything.  What do you say?’

 

The framework which can be used in any sales:

 

Find out how they used a pen (gathering information)

Emphasise the importance of the activity a pen was last used for (respond to information)

Sell something bigger than a pen, like a state of mind to grow the company (deliver information)

Ask for the buy (close the deal)

 

Sounds simple doesn’t?