What Makes a Customer a Lifelong Customer

As a salesperson, you must behave like a consultant so that your prospect will see value in you. Otherwise, you are seen as a conman who just want to make the sale. We all know about sales conversions: how to convert a prospect in to a client and convert a client into a life-long customer.

However, there are 3 other Conversions a salesperson must make:

1. They Must Convert Their Selling Price into an Investment

Price is a cost. As such, it has a negative value that people will try to pay as little as possible to obtain. On the other hand, an investment connotes a return. People are willing to put in money into investment as they know there is a 'Return on Investment' or ROI.

How to Convert your price into an Investment? You must always show what they can get from using your product or service. As long as that return over the investment gives a double digit return, it is considered a good investment.

2. They Must Convert their Product/Service into the Dollar Value that Comes from Its Being Applied to the Customer's Operations

Consultative sellers sell the value added by application, not the product that is applied or the service that applies it. You must monetize your application and translate benefits like reduced downtime, speeded-up cycle time and higher productivity into their dollar contributions to the customer's operating profits.

3. They Must Convert Their Focus on Making Individual Standalone Sales into Making a Portfolio of Continuing Sales

Everyone can make a sale. But not everyone can make a lifelong customer. A good sales consultant knows that it is far more important to make an ongoing process of improvements rather than a one-off improvement. As such, they always have further sales and solutions and move their customer up the value chain. In this way, they are contributing to the growth of their customer and they too will get life-long business.

By Andy Ng, Sales Trainer and Coach at Asia Trainers, details of courses at here.

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