What Role Does Decision Making Play in Sales? By Cliff Rice

Every day, we all have to make many different decisions. From deciding what to wear to choosing what to eat for lunch, we make plenty of decisions in a manner that’s somewhat automatic. The important thing for sales professionals to understand is the way that decisions are made during the sales process has a lot of similarities to how they’re made in other parts of daily life. In order to help guide someone’s decision to purchase what you’re selling, you need to possess a certain amount of knowledge. Then by putting that knowledge into action, you’ll be empowered to make the most of every selling opportunity that you have.

The Five Types of Knowledge That Matter Most in Sales

Successfully guiding the decision making process starts with being fully knowledgeable about what you’re selling. Unless you’re confident that you can answer every question that may come up during a client meeting, it’s important to continue studying everything there is to know about your offering. Even though more obscure questions may only come up in every two out of ten calls you make, that still means this type of knowledge can boost your sales by a full 20%.

The next type of knowledge you need to possess is what you have in terms of current inventory. Since this knowledge continuously changes, it’s something you need to stay on top of. The last thing you want is to find yourself in a position where you think you’ve closed a large sale, only to discover that you have to go back and apologize to the client because you’re not going to be able to fulfill the order in the timeframe you promised.

Available financing is the third area of knowledge. Although this may not directly apply to every type of sales, most have some form of incentive that’s available. So if financing is an option, make sure you know the terms inside and out. And even if doesn’t apply to what you’re selling, knowing the exact terms of any incentives that are available can help you persuade more prospects that now is the ideal time to make a purchase.

The fourth type of knowledge you need to possess as a sales professional is whether or not a prospect is actually qualified. The biggest mistake that new sales professionals make is valuing quantity over quality. By making this assessment before you spend time building a relationship, you will be able to increase your daily efficiency.

Finally, you need to be knowledgeable about at what point prospects are actually ready to pull the trigger on a purchase. Knowing the ins and outs of your sales cycle will allow you to know the right time to send educational materials, and then which point is right for asking for the sale in person.

Attempting to close a sale without the five types of knowledge discussed above is usually a futile pursuit. But as long as you take the time to obtain that knowledge, you’ll find that you have the ideal course of action to take with every single prospect you meet.

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