Succeeding in a competitive industry means making more sales than your competitors. Although it’s technically one goal, making sales isn’t easy. With the competition present and varying consumer behaviors, it would be hard for your salespeople to persuade your target audience to make a purchase through traditional, pushy marketing techniques.
Instead of annoying your target audience with spammy sales efforts, you should take a different approach. Better relay how the product or service you’re offering helps them. This way you can achieve loyalty since you also care about their satisfaction instead of focusing solely on your profits.
💡 Read Consumer Behavior Analysis 101: How to Learn More About Your Customers
This sales technique is often referred to as personal selling. If you want to become more successful in closing sales, you should consider investing in personal selling.
What is Personal Selling?
Personal selling is the process of personalizing the sales process by creating a direct connection between a salesperson and a prospective customer. By establishing a one-to-one relationship with the consumer, salespersons can better introduce them to the product or service offered by a company. It is often used for business-to-business transactions but can also be utilized to close trade and retail sales.
This selling technique can be done in person, where the salesperson meets with the client in a physical location and explains the benefits of the product or service. It can also be done through virtual channels, such as over the phone or via email if the salesperson isn’t able to be physically present.
Regardless of the method used, personal selling should be tailored to fit each customer’s needs and convey the benefits of investing in a specific product or service. This helps create an emotional connection with the customer and makes it more likely for them to invest in what is being offered. Personal selling can also allow salespersons to clarify any challenges or questions a customer may have with the product or service to help them make an informed decision.
Key Features of Personal Selling
As discussed above, personal selling differs from traditional sales methods. This is because personal selling has the following features:
Human Contact
Unlike the more traditional methods of selling, personal selling involves having a person-to-person connection. A salesperson directly interacts with a potential client and uses a personalized approach. That allows them to effectively address the customer’s unique needs and preferences.
Customer Relationship
Personal selling is a unique method because it requires the salesperson to establish a relationship with the consumer. Unlike other techniques where the relationship ends once a sale is completed, personal selling involves the salesperson staying in contact with the customer and nurturing that relationship for future purchases.
Two-Way Communication
Most of the time, businesses solely provide the information to customers and expect no replies from them. But with personal selling, the communication is two-way. The salesperson listens to the consumer’s needs and understands what they’re looking for in a product or service. This helps them better explain how their offerings can satisfy the customer’s requirements and provide a more customized solution.
Flexibility
Personal selling is a more flexible approach than other sales methods. The salesperson can easily tailor their sales pitch depending on the needs and preferences of the prospective customer. This allows them to provide the ideal solution. Also, it is easier for the customer to invest in what is being offered.
Main Goals of Personal Selling
Personal selling is mainly used to help businesses close more sales and increase their revenue. But this sales tactic also serves other goals, which can help your business reach a broader audience.
Brand and Product Awareness
You can use personal selling to build your product or brand awareness without spending extra money. This is possible when you send your salespersons out to educate your target audience on the products and services you offer. To check if this approach is effective, you can also monitor your brand reputation. This way you can see how many people are taking an interest in what you have to offer.
Long-Term Relationships
By establishing personal connections with your potential customers, you can create lasting relationships with them. This will help you increase sales in the long run. When you have a strong connection with consumers, they are more likely to trust your brand. Then, they keep coming back to your brand for your services or products.
Customer Satisfaction
This sales technique allows your team to better understand the needs of your customers and find the right product or service to satisfy them. This will help them build trust in your brand, as they’ll see that you’re more concerned about their satisfaction than making a sale.
Customer Support
Personal selling also lets you provide real-time customer support that can help enhance the customer experience. Your sales team can answer any questions or doubts about the product or service and offer guidance to help customers make the best decision. This makes it easier for them to invest in your offerings and have a positive perception of your brand, which can also help with managing your brand’s online reputation.
Benefits of Personal Selling
Improving customer experience is crucial to making sales and growing your business. Since 92% of consumers expect a personalized experience when interacting with a brand, personal selling will benefit your sales performance. Additionally, this approach can help you enjoy the following advantages:
Builds Customers’ Trust and Loyalty
Since personal selling puts the customer at the center of your sales transactions, it helps build trust and loyalty. This increases the chances of them becoming repeat customers and thus, contributing to your business’s success.
Gives Your Business an Edge Over Your Competition
Personal selling helps you stand out from your competitors by delivering a more personalized buying experience to customers. This gives you an edge over the competition, as customers will be more likely to invest in your product due to the superior service you provide.
Increases Your Sales Volume
Using personal selling can lead to an increase in sales volume. This is because customers will be more likely to invest in your product or service if they believe it is the right solution for their needs.
Reduces Churn
Personal selling can help reduce churn as it allows your sales team to provide real-time customer support and address any issues or concerns quickly. In turn, this not only improves the customer experience but also increases their satisfaction with your product or service.
Challenges of Personal Selling
Although personal selling is becoming more popular in the sales world, it does come with its own set of challenges. The following are some of the most common issues you’ll encounter when using this sales tactic:
High Costs
Personal selling is a time-consuming and expensive process. You’ll need to hire experienced sales representatives and purchase the necessary tools and equipment for them to effectively reach out to potential customers. This can be quite costly for small businesses with limited resources.
However, investing in this sales strategy can benefit your business in the long run. Although you need to shell out a significant amount of money at first, doing so will allow you to have a competitive edge over your competitors and increase sales in the process.
Time-Consuming
Building a relationship with potential customers and understanding their needs and preferences requires a lot of time. This could prolong the sales process, which can be an issue for businesses that need to make quick sales.
But the time you spend connecting with prospective customers won’t be for nothing. Over time, you’ll be able to build a strong network of customers who trust your product or service and are more likely to invest in it.
Smaller Customer Pool
Because personal selling involves establishing meaningful connections with potential customers, your salespersons might not have the resources and time to talk to several clients at once. This means that the customer pool you’ll be able to reach out to will be smaller compared to using other sales tactics.
However, you can still have peace of mind knowing that your sales team dedicates themselves to identifying consumers who are a good fit for your product or service. As such, you can rest assured that the customers who purchase from your business will be more likely to stay loyal to it.
Invest in Personal Selling and Bring Your Business Closer to Success
Personal selling is a powerful sales tactic that can help you build trust with your customers, gain an edge over your competition, and increase sales. However, it comes with its own set of challenges such as high costs and time-consuming processes. Nevertheless, investing in this sales strategy can benefit your business in the long run as it can lead to repeat customers and thus, contribute to your business’s success.
If you’re looking for an effective way to boost your sales and gain loyal customers, investing in personal selling is a great option. With the right resources and dedication, you can be sure that your business will reach the heights of success.
Marc Bartolome is the Head of Business Development at SEO Services Australia, a strategist, and enabler of hundreds of successful digital marketing campaigns. Always looking out for the little guys, he specializes in helping SMEs create a bigger impact online – which is why he writes blog posts like this.
