4 Techniques to Amp Up Your Sales By Keeping It Simple and Direct

You’ve all undoubtedly heard the KISS principle—“Keep It Simple, Stupid—right?” But did you know its origin is from a U.S. Navy engineering design principle, advocating that most systems work best if they are kept simple rather than made complicated?So why should your sales process be any different?You need to strip out all complexity from your sales process. Strip out complexity in the messages you deliver and complexity in how you sell. Be completely clear and focused on the steps you can take that will help your prospect make a good decision quickly.Here are four important, but simple, techniques to help you simplify your selling:

1. Make every touch count. Every single interaction you have with a prospect has to deliver value and give buyers the confidence to take the next step forward in their decision process. If it doesn’t, don’t do it. Wait until you have a plan to deliver value.
2. Be absolutely responsive. If you’ve read my book, Zero-Time Selling, or heard me speak, or read any of my blog posts, you know that I believe in “absolute responsiveness”—which means providing your prospect with the complete answers to their questions in the shortest time possible. Be transparent with your information and don’t make the customer work to extract necessary answers from you.
3. Clarify your offer. To quote Einstein, “If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.” So, make sure you understand whatever you are selling so well that it’s simple to absorb – even for a six year old. If your customer has to work hard to understand your solution, or your offer, then they won’t take you up on it.
4. Know your product. Don’t make your prospects repeat themselves. Whatever a buyer tells you they should never have to say again to a sales engineer, a service rep, or your boss, or anyone else in your company. Your odds of winning the business correlate to the number of times you make the customer repeat their story. Every repeats sends one of two messages to the prospect. First, that you don’t respect their time enough to have communicated their story and requirements to your colleagues. Or, worse, that your colleagues don’t trust you to accurately convey their requirements to them. Either one damages your credibility with the prospect.

Remember, keep it simple and direct and you’ll amp up your chances of making a sale.