Sales Technique Quotes

I think the best advice I ever got about acting was from my dad, which was, 'If they don't buy the fish on the first toss, throw it back in the wagon and go to the second house.' Which is like an old Jewish fishmongers' story about how you become a successful fish monger.

I'm not a guy who holds up a product and says, 'Drink this.'

We're more familiar with what economists call an English auction - prices start low and rise as people bid. However, there is also the Dutch auction, where prices start high and go lower until somebody bites. Movies are sold to the audience via a very slow Dutch auction, where each phase between price drops can last weeks or months.

Telling is not selling. Only asking questions is selling.

One way to sell a consumer something in the future is simply to get his or her permission in advance.

Customers must be delicately angled for at a safe distance - show yourself too much, and, like trout, they flashed away.

Selling is never about convincing. It is always about helping.

Good salesmanship is nothing more than maximizing the positive and minimizing the negative.

Telling is not selling; never make a statement if you can phrase it in the form of a question.

If you find common subjects or interests with a prospect, you can establish a business friendship. Ask about a diploma or picture. Your prospect will be glad to talk about what he/she just did or likes to do. Try to captivate him or her in intelligent conversation with engaging questions about their interests. It's obviously better if you're versed in the subject, because that's where rapport is established. Get the prospect to talk about their passions and what makes them happy.

It's about listening first, then selling.

The worst fault a salesman can commit is to be a bore. Foster any attempt to talk about other things; the longer you stay the better you get to know the prospect, and the more you will be trusted.

When you stop talking, you've lost your customer. When you turn your back, you've lost her.

Pitch tip: Speak confidently about your product, but be able to admit when you need more information, and get it to the people you're pitching quickly after the meeting.

Make a habit of dominating the listening, and let the prospect dominate the talking.

The pitch is the most important thing for us: not the words, not on paper.

If a vacuum cleaner salesman rings your front door, he will be selling HIMSELF first. The vacuum cleaner is secondary.

Basically, you're selling a world as an actor, right? I mean it's like any sales person: if you believe in your product, you know your product, you sell it a lot better.

You cannot sell a man who isn't listening; word of mouth is the best medium of all; and dullness won't sell your product, but neither will irrelevant brilliance.

To sell is above all to master the art and science of listening.

There's a right way to sell and a wrong way to sell.

Too often, sales reps simply regurgitate their presentations and expect to land the sale. It doesn't work.

The definition of salesmanship is the gentle art of letting the customer have it your way.

The way you communicate an idea is different than the way you communicate a product.

The most killer questions in sales: "Mr. Jones, when I say (insert your product, your company, or anything you want an opinion about here) what one word comes to mind?" This is the most powerful question because it not only gives you top of mind awareness (the customer "hot button"), it also tells you their attitude towards it.