To Increase Sales and Margins, Be a Coach
Clients Listen to Their Coaches
In the profession of coaching, the coach enriches the client by helping them solve their problem. The coach cannot give the solution. The coach has three tools:
- Asking questions
- Offering feedback
- Making observations
The coach helps the client arrive at their own solution. Because the client developed their own solution, they will make it work. After all, they thought of it.
Don't Sell - Coach
What if you thought of yourself as the buyer's success coach? The buyer has goals they want to achieve. They have unmet needs. They will consider your products and services as tools to meet their needs.
If you spend the sales call bragging about your products and services, the buyer will perceive you as a peddler, beneath their status.
If you spend the sales call asking questions about the buyer's goals and needs, offering feedback and making observations, the buyer will perceive you as a fellow professional. You'll be equals.
Better Results
The more you help, the sooner the buyer will perceive you as a Trusted Advisor. The buyer welcomes you into their "inner circle."
Trusted advisors sell more, at higher margins. Because the buyer places a high value on the trusted advisor's advice, the buyer automatically places a high value on the trusted advisor's products and services. You help them, and they help you.
Your Opportunity
Enter your next call from a position of strength. Don't sell your products. Instead, coach the buyer with questions, feedback and observations. Become their trusted advisor, and watch your sales and referrals grow.
By Mike Goss, Certified Coach
