Sales people 'must find the door to the client's motivation and open it'

Part of what sets the best salespeople apart from the rest is their understanding of motivation, both their own and that of the client.

Jonathan Farrington, chairman of JF Corporation, wrote on his personal blog that identifying the buyer's motivation in particular is crucial, as prospects buy products or services for their reasons alone.

He stated that every successful sale is made because the sales professional has found the human reason for why the customer needs the product.

It is therefore vital that the salesperson is able to identify the client's needs and show them why their product is the answer to their problem, which is an area where the expertise of a sales consultancy could help.

"The more you understand the function of human motivation, the more successfully you will sell," Mr Farrington said.

Identifying the client's needs and providing the solution should only be seen as the first step in forging a long-term relationship with them, as adopting this attitude will help ensure a company's future success, Colleen Francis, writing on Colleen's Sell More and Work Less Blog, said recently.