marketing & sales: Using the Power of Certainty to Drive Sales Success

When it comes to selling, nothing is more important than the power of certainty. After all, when potential customers or clients are uncertain, they hesitate. They don't want to move forward, say "yes," or allow you to close the sale. The more uncertainty you have, the higher the risk for the person making the purchase and the more likely it is they will decide to wait. On the other hand, when there is a high level of certainty and the products or services will help customers accomplish what they want to achieve, the sale can easily be made.

In a world of amazing uncertainty, ask yourself, "What am I certain about?" One thing is certain—the future is all about relationships. Even though we live in a highly technical world, it is still a human world where people buy and sell on their view of the future and on the level of trust they have in the people they're working with. Therefore, without trust (no matter what you're selling), it will be difficult to rapidly improve sustainable sales.

It has been increasingly difficult for order-takers to make a living in today's networked, mobile and interactive economy. The best salespeople are those who act not as order-takers, but as trusted advisors.

For example, if you go to a hardware store and ask someone to help you find something, and that salesperson simply points you to the correct aisle, he or she may make the sale, but not a loyal customer. However, when that salesperson takes an interest in what you need, asks questions and then helps you find what you are looking for (or a better solution), you're more likely to return to that store and seek that person out. You're no longer just going to the hardware store; you're going to see your trusted advisor who works at the hardware store.

So, as a salesperson, how do you reach that trusted advisor status? And, once you attain that status, how do you use certainty to fill your sales pipeline? Here are four keys to keep in mind:

1. Raise the bar on trust. Many salespeople lower the level of trust they have with customers, not because they aren't trustworthy people, but because they aren't thinking about trust before they make their sales pitch. When you're talking with a prospect or customer, you always want to ask yourself, "Where is the current trust level?" Perhaps there isn't any. If so, that's okay. Work at building trust as the conversation and resulting relationship progresses.

Instead of saying something negative about a competing product, pull out your smartphone or tablet and show the customer tweeted complaints about the competing product, as well as tweets about your product. This will give the customer social proof that you are telling the truth.

Change how you talk about your product or service, how you sell it or how you demo it so that trust stays where it is or, better yet, grows stronger. When you can raise the bar on trust, you're much closer to that sale because now you're a trusted advisor.

2. Send customers away. Rather than strive for sales or transactions, strive for relationships that span time, price fluctuations and the competition. Sometimes that means sending customers to your competitors. Yes, it sounds contrary to the traditional sales-building advice, but it's a sure way to build your trusted advisor status.

For instance, if the competition's product would better suit some of your customers, tell them about it. Give them the other company's website, phone number or address. Even though you didn't make this sale, you just made many future sales because now the customers realize you truly want to help and that they can trust you for the right answers. When customers have another need or challenge (which they most certainly will), they will turn to you for help. When you're always the first company contacted, you're bound to get long-term sales.

Remember, transactions are here today and gone tomorrow. That's why your goal is to gain customers who are with you forever. After all, it's much less expensive to sell to current customers who already trust you than to try to gain a new customer. Invest the time upfront and you'll have better results in the future.

3. Capitalize on certainties. Once you have earned people's trust and understand the power of leveraging relationships, it's time to ask yourself a key question we touched on earlier: "What am I certain about?" Chances are, you're certain about a lot of things. You know when major holidays will hit, when seasons will come and even your industry's sales cycles.

Let's take the sales cycle as an example. Most industries have sales cycles where there's a certain time that people buy the product or service. Therefore, if you know it's coming, why not prospect, market and sell before the sales cycle starts? One of the strategies I teach in my book Flash Foresight is that opposites work better. So rather than competing and selling when everyone else does, why not sell when your competitors don't think the sales cycle has started?

Before the sales day begins, always ask yourself: What are the problems that are most likely on my customers' minds? What are the uncertainties that might keep them from saying "yes?" Then ask yourself: What am I certain about? The key is to use the things you're certain about to make saying "yes" easier for your customers. Eliminate the risk of saying "yes" and put more risk on saying "no." If you're a trusted advisor and talk to your customers about the certainties you know they'll be facing, they will listen and buy.

4. Fill your sales pipeline. We live in a highly competitive and uncertain world. And that can force many salespeople to forget about relationship-building and focus on the current transaction. Yet when you focus on developing personal relationships with customers, becoming a trusted advisor rather than a salesperson, and using the power of certainty to your advantage, you will provide the comfort and clarity for customers to make a buying decision now.

By Daniel Burrus

Daniel Burrus is considered one of the world's leading technology forecasters and business strategists, and is the founder and CEO of Burrus Research, a research and consulting firm that monitors global advancements in technology-driven trends to help clients better understand how technological, social and business forces are converging to create enormous, untapped opportunities. He is the author of six books, including the national bestseller Flash Foresight: How To See the Invisible and Do the Impossible (www.flashforesight.com), as well as the highly acclaimed Technotrends.