This weekend I had a great time going into Missouri Wine Country, we took a 2.5 hour drive to explore a few wineries in Herman, Missouri.
I was reminded that 75% of a sale is experience driven. The first winery that we attended took us through a tour and then a quick wine tasting; starting off with the wines that were really not our style. The second we were served and experienced personal attention and service. We were able to select the wines that we wanted to taste and each wine was paired with a cracker to bring out the flavor of the wine. The lady behind the counter was attentive and courteous. We walked out with a list of several wines that hit our list of favorites. I believe some of the wines had a better flavor than the first winery we visited, but maybe it’s because we didn’t taste the wines that satisfied our own personal interest and tastes? We were bundled in a group and each of us tasting the same wine. When we vocalized that we would prefer to taste the dryer wines the older guy behind the counter joked about confusing him. As a result of that experience we walked out of that winery without purchasing any of the wines we had tasted. The second winery sold us two cases and a few boxes of the cheese straws that they had paired with the wines.

The point of my article this week is not to rave about the Missouri wines, but rather to emphasis the importance of creating the experience for your buyers. By creating the experience you increase your sales rate by 85%.

Here are five ways to create a more positive experience that in return will increase your sales; therefore increasing your revenue:

•Get Interested: Truly care about your customer. Ask questions, take notes even if they are only mental, engage in their answers. Take an interest in your customer and they will remember you.

•Pay Attention: Observe their eyes, their handshake, their facial expression and tone of voice. Listen to what they say, because they will tell you what they want.

•Make Eye Contact: Do you know how hard it is to get people to look you in the eyes in the sales process? Differentiate yourself by making eye contact initially and during conversation.

•Be Friendly: Leave the formal business speak at home. Be friendly – enjoy what you do. Have fun doing it and those prospects will want to spend time with you.

•Personalize: Get their name, learn their name and use their name. You’ve now personalized the sales process and they know you have a genuine interest in taking the time to get to know who they are and listen to their needs.
Your success in sales is directly determined by the way you are perceived, and the amount of effort you put into the sales process. Change either of those variables and it will have a huge impact on whether you success or failure in sales career.

As for my experience in Missouri Wine Country, it’s not Napa Valley, but it’s worth a day trip if you are not far from the area.