Lots of thoughts go through buyers’ minds when they’re evaluating service providers. Do the people at the company understand my problems? Do they care about my challenges? Have they helped similar organisations in my industry? What’s their level of expertise?

And the first place they stop to try and get those questions answered is on your website. This means that you must have information on your site that answers these questions.

The top three things to include on your website are:

• Articles and videos that deal with issues your customers regularly face
• Information on how to make a good, informed decision
• Customer testimonials, on video if possible

If your website is primarily advertising about how great your company is or what wonderful products and services you have, you’ll lose the potential clients’ interest quickly – you’re just another salesperson. On the other hand, if your website is a hub of good information, you’ll be perceived in a completely different way. You will stand out from the grey mass of your competition and it won’t cost you a thing.

You should be a resource to prospects and clients. Position yourself as someone who is well-connected and willing to help others using your network of contacts, because when you’re a strong referral giver, the law of reciprocity kicks in. The more you give, the more people will give back to you. What can often happen is that what you receive back is significantly more valuable than what you gave in the first place.

When you become a resource center, continually making connections and referring people, you will get referrals in return.

Sell with a Noble Purpose

You can also show you care about buyers and their problems when you have a Noble Sales Purpose.

When you have a noble sales purpose, you ask prospects different questions and you have conversations that demonstrate you care about their needs.

In companies that have a noble sales purpose, the manager asks his salespeople the following question: “How will this customer be different as a result of doing business with us?”

When the manager asks that question, that salesperson shifts to a completely different line of thinking – rather than just focusing on the sale. This line of thinking creates a completely different mindset for a salesperson and often leads to better sales behavior, which leads to closing more deals.

Win or Lose, Do This

Whether you win or lose the deal, you need to find out why the buyer made the decision. This information can help you improve your sales approach, as well as your marketing efforts.

The problem is that most people don’t know how to conduct win/loss debriefs, so they leave meetings without any useful information.

Salespeople and professionals involved in sales often ask prospects why they lost a deal, but they usually won’t get a straight answer. Win/loss research shows salespeople learn the truth about 40% of the time. In other words, in 60% of new business situations, salespeople do not have a complete and accurate understanding of why they lost the sale.

To ensure you get more honest win/loss information from prospects, schedule separate debrief calls away from your initial meeting using a debrief guide, and probing for specifics. This way you can find out your biggest sales asset or failure.

By implementing a process for conducting better debrief calls; you will unlock a vast source of prospect information that will allow for continual sales improvement. This process will ultimately increase a businesses’ close rate for the foreseeable future.

Don’t forget that the key to winning over business is unlikely to be bragging about you, your qualifications, and your accolades. Use case studies from previous client success stories to win over prospective clients. Learn more in our blog post here.