Karolina Gujska is a powerhouse in the technology sales industry. Her credentials speak for themselves, opening the doors to Fortune 100 clientele such as Johnson & Johnson, The Home Depot, and many more. Delivering a personalized approach to each client, she makes it a point to understand her client’s business to help define their business-critical project needs, helping to innovate and transform her clients into a digital first mindset set for the future. Karolina currently works at a multinational corporation that provides business consulting, information technology, and outsourcing services. The 14-billion-dollar company has a presence in 50 countries with more than 245,000 employees across the globe.
During her time with her previous employers, the hardworking and astute woman has contributed significantly to the success of each company. Because of this, she has received numerous recognitions and is considered one of the technology industry’s driving forces. As a self-made thought leader in the field of technology, Karolina aims to inspire other professionals looking to hone their skills in sales, leadership and those who are on their journey climbing the corporate ladder.
Now she comes sharing her tips for sales success; here are her most-effective tricks for you to try out:
- Karolina says to keep it simple.
“Providing your prospect with too many different options makes it harder for them to make a decision…which increases the odds they’ll walk away without buying anything at all. The company I work for sells a large range of different solutions to help organizations into the future. But the key is to know the best solutions for the type of customer that you know your company can deliver. Set yourself up for success by knowing what your company does best in each type of solution set.”
Research your prospects so you can anticipate their needs and thus get a clear view of what pitches they would be receptive to. When you reach out to them, ask questions to build on the research you’ve made and get an even clearer understanding of what they’d be interested in. Then only pitch products that could solve their problems. You could also select products with your prospect, making it time efficient for everyone involved.
- Karolina says to communicate your expertise to build credibility.
“The first mission I always have when getting into a sales role is to use my own expertise in a subject I know well and, most importantly, use the company’s success stories (by storytelling!) as if they were my own. The sales industry has heard of storytelling for a while now, but it truly works and is an important enough point to reiterate. Sharing a related customer success story is more powerful than simply listing the benefits of your solution or product. Learn the greatest winning solutions for other key clients that are like the customer you are pursuing. That way, you build credibility from the start with your prospect by gaining their trust that you have done this before and you are, in fact, an expert.”
Be authoritative as a seller, as that will get potential customers to trust you and thus be more likely to buy from you.
To establish authority, make sure to inform the prospect about the years of experience and expertise behind your product or service. Work in any awards or praise the product or service has received from the industry too.
You could also use social proof. Customer testimonials can sway any prospect, since they are more likely to trust other consumers than sales representatives. To do this, you can post reviews on your websites so your prospects can see them when they research your company. You could also name notable brands or people who’ve benefited from your service.
Also, during a sales call, you could talk about your best selling product to guide prospects toward selecting that.
- Karolina’s favorite: Leverage Loss Aversion
“Customers have a hard time saying no to a great opportunity, particularly if they’re thinking about what they’ll lose by turning it down. Tap into this by framing your solution or product as something they’ll miss out on if they don’t make a purchase, rather than just highlighting the added value (err…this is sales 101, time to step it up to sales 201 and use loss aversion!)
Whenever you can, talk about a missed opportunity that relates to the prospect’s situation. It could be a solution that they’re currently lacking, or a way to get a leg up on the competition. Either way, make sure to highlight what a loss it would be if they said no to your offer.
- Karolina says to ask for feedback and reasoning.
“One of the easiest ways to poke holes in a prospect’s excuse for not buying your solution is to ask them for feedback (in other words, this will tell you how you can fix your offering!) and their walk away reasoning. People like to appear reliable, so if you can get your prospect to talk about the reason it may benefit their company or ways it would improve their life, they’re more likely to take their own advice and make a purchase (especially after you offer ways to change their mindset!)”
Get the prospect to open up about why they won’t get your service. That’s your in to get information that could bolster your pitch. You could also ask your prospect to answer a survey and then ask them to rate their willingness to buy the product on a scale from one to ten. Then you could ask why they chose that number. Doing so often leads the prospect to realize that they actually are ready to buy the product.
Learn more about Karolina Gujska by visiting her Instagram account or LinkedIn account.
