A lot of people often ask me how I can call myself a CEO with a small corporation. The answer is quite simple. A CEO is a Chief Experience Officer. A person that always has their door open and likely follows a system similar to G.U.E.S.S.T. Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to be trained by some of the top sales people in Canada and it’s taught me a lot. Using the G.U.E.S.S.T system has given me endless opportunities and I hope it does for you too.

Greet

every customer and person with equal genuine enthusiasm. Most business to an extent is based on an emotional impulse. Would you buy from someone you didn’t like? You are a brand after all. Just look at how well Steve Jobs was able to communicate and embrace every day people’s needs in his brief but powerful presentations. In networking and engaging your potential audience through various mediums you are with any luck building rapport. In fact, just by going out to introduce myself and asking clients relevant questions I quickly became one of the top 5 sales people for a very large corporation inside a month. Three great books that helped me with this are, “Never Eat Alone,” by Keith Ferrazzi, “Delivering Happiness” by “Tony Hsieh and “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” by Dale Carnegie. If you haven’t read these books you really should as I found them transforming. I’ve been told Toast Masters is amazing for business but I’ve not yet gone so I can’t say from personal experience. If you’re answering the phone make sure you say your name last. A study found that most people remember the last word you said. So if you answer the phone ending a sentence with speaking you’ve just become Mr/Mrs Speaking. Are you engaging people through the internet and greeting everyone that comes in?

Understand

your clients needs. The who, what, why, where, and how the product service offering will be used. If you know the potential customers needs you’ll never have to sell to them. You’re just giving them what they want. Two ears, one mouth is often said for a reason. If you’re not listening to your customer through various mediums such as the internet you’re missing out on huge opportunities. Are you properly qualifying your sales by asking the right questions?

Educate

your guests with brief, comprehensive values that tie into their needs. Plant seeds by answering their needs with questions how your product service offering applies to them with the who, why, when, where and how the offering will be used. For example, “Jennifer, you mentioned you’re looking for more sales cost effectively. Have you ever tried internet marketing which has the strongest ROAS (Return On Ad Spend) and on average results in $6 in store for every dollar spent online? Most people are doing their research about product service offerings online prior to purchase.” You’ll notice in the example I addressed the person by name which means they’re not just another person through the door. If a customer agrees three times that’s usually enough. Always look a customer in the eye if it’s in person, and speak with enthusiasm regardless of where it is. I remember speaking to a sales person from a Fortune 500 company on the phone about the acquisition of some hardware for a client over the phone. It quickly became very apparent that he was cocky and slouching back in his chair which made him someone we didn’t wish to buy from. If you’re on the phone sit up and speak with enthusiasm as people notice. If you’re speaking to someone in person make sure you’re nodding as you speak as people will tend to find themselves doing the same in agreement. Make sure you believe in the product service offering because if you don’t the client will either know it or it will be returned. Over 70% of communication is body language so make sure you’re projecting that confidence. I never sell anything I don’t personally stand behind or like. Know your product knowledge thoroughly but don’t confuse them with too many technical terms. Never give the customer more than a few choices as this will confuse them. Are you educating your customers with things relevant to their needs?

Satisfy

that the clients needs are met by asking questions.

Sell

is an old term, but close the sale by giving the customer what they basically asked for when you qualified them with questions pertinent to their needs.

Thank

every customer and be thankful for their business as it’s well known that it’s easier to sell to existing customers than it is to new ones.