Marketing & Sales

How to Increase Sales: a Proven Step-By-Step Process

Written by Steve Jensen

If your company is approaching their sales processes today, in the exact same way they did a year ago, you have a big problem! Those strategies don’t work anymore – at least, not as effectively as new techniques and processes do.

During the last 18 months, sales processes have had to rapidly adapt in direct response to consumers and their ever-changing patterns of communication and purchasing. The response to the rapidly changing landscape of sales means that the creation of inspirational selling has been required.

There has been a focus on the development of numerous protocols and processes that are specifically designed to inspire people to buy. These models have increased sales for businesses all over the world, with those who have implemented these techniques achieving a 20, 30, and even 40 percent increase in sales results, and some within a mere month of adopting this new way of selling.

I am going to share with you with my three-step process for inspirational selling, so you can implement it into your business and increase your sales. Before I do though, you need to have the right mindset, and there is a key question you need to answer before you begin a sale.

What Do You Fix? The Key Question to Increasing Sales

The key question you must answer is, “what do you fix?” Most business owners will answer by stating what they do, or by listing the services or products they offer. But that’s not actually answering the question and, that is why so many businesses are not achieving their sales targets.

You must have a clear understanding of what it is that your business fixes, as this is what you should be focusing on when meeting with a potential client. Knowing this gets your mindset in the right place before you begin a sale.

When you break it down, the sales process is quite simple. Someone comes to you with something that they need to fix/enjoy/have (i.e., they are seeking a solution to a problem).

It’s your job to provide them with solutions and remind them how they will feel once their problem is solved. You can do this by following the three steps in inspirational selling method;

1. Identifying your potential customers problem

The easiest way to identify your customer’s problem or challenge is to learn and use the process of The W’s+H. This means asking what, where, why, when and how. Ask your customers;

  • What is their number one priority?
  • Where are the areas/aspects that they are not happy with?
  • Why is that a challenge now and perhaps wasn’t a challenge before?
  • When do they want their results/outcomes by?
  • How good will they feel once they achieve these results? What will happen/ramifications if they don’t make changes and stay in the same condition/position as they are in now?

Be sure to listen for their response. Reassure the customer that by moving forward, they will now be on their way to achieving the results they desire. You may like to ask them “Are you looking forward to seeing these results?” and reply, “Ok let’s make that happen”!

2. Create value and position

The second part of the process is where you share new information with your potential customer. We call this process INKing – I Never Knew that:

Here is an example – “You might not know that 70% of weight loss is your nutrition or put another way, you lose weight in the kitchen.”

You must do this to create value for the potential customer and to position yourself as an expert.

3. Solve the problem

Finally, you need to demonstrate how your unique selling points, along with your products and services, will alleviate their pain. Once you have communicated this, it is imperative that you revisit the ‘how’ questions from step 1.

Ask your customer:

“How good would you be feeling once you have a solution to your problem?”

listen for their response and then ask:

“What will happen/ramifications if you don’t make changes and stay in the same condition/position as you are in now?”

Again, reassure your customer with words like, “Don’t worry, by moving forward you will now be on the way to achieving the results that you are looking for, are you happy about that?” Listen to your customer and respond with “Ok let’s make that happen”.

Successful business owners and salespeople understand that people don’t actually buy a product or service; instead, they buy the feeling that a product or service will give them. This is because when you start talking about emotions, you are activating the part of the brain that makes decisions.

Unfortunately, most sales teams always focus on the product or service, instead of honing in on the feelings that result once the problem is fixed. This is predominantly why inspirational selling has become so successful, so quickly; it triggers the emotional and decision-making part of the brain, so people actually feel inspired to buy.

Move from ‘Selling’ to ‘Helping’ to Increase Sales Fast

When using this sales model, your business will go from “selling” to “helping”. If you really understand this and you really do want to help people fix their problems, then rest assured that they will feel your authenticity and be inspired to purchase.

The key is to forget about making the sale, and instead focus on the person and how you can fix their problem. The sales will then follow naturally.

Essentially by helping people get what they want, you will get more of what you want –a big increase in sales.

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About the author

Steve Jensen

Steve Jensen is the founder and Managing Director of Impact Training & the National Sales Academy. He’s regarded as one the world leaders in sales and communication training and a highly sought-after training consultant, as well as an International Presenter. People from all around the globe have doubled and tripled their sales income as a direct result of what they’ve learned from Steve Jensen, everyone knows, if you get an opportunity to learn from Steve, you seize it; because his knowledge will help you become a successful sales professional and business operator. After all, as Steve always says, “There’s not a lot in business that more sales can’t fix”.