I talk a lot about all the old sales tactics and strategies that don’t work for sales, but there are a few tried-and-true old school sales tactics that DO WORK. These sales strategies and tactics guide potential customers to work with you and feel good about saying YES!

Here are 5 sales strategies that have personally worked for me for over 20 years!  Not to mention have helped my clients stay on track and close the deal.

5 Old School sales strategies and tactics to help you close the deal

1) KISS method

“If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old

then you do not understand it yourself.”

-Albert Einstein

KISS=Keep It Simple Stupid…

A confused buyer doesn’t buy. 

They are not as interested in how much you know, they just want to feel confident that you can help them. Sometimes this means less is more. 

More listening, more questions for them, and plan to make a few valid points, but that is it. Based on the answers they give you from the questions you asked, tailor your approach. Pick 2-3 points you want to make about your offer that you feel would be the biggest benefit for them and then share. Simple but effective, not pushy old school as I promised, this is the original old school sales tactic that WORKS!

2) Qualify your leads

Before you even schedule the meeting or share your product with the potential customer make sure they are the right customer and CONFIRM that the key decision makers will attend. Not qualifying leads is a mistake entrepreneurs make. But it can be easily accomplished asking the right questions up front.

If you don’t do this you could end up going through your hour-long spiel and the person says, “Well, sounds great but, I cannot make this decision without my partner or significant other.” Now what? Do you depend on them to deliver all of the value you just did to their partner? Nope, not happening. 

Don’t waste your valuable time, make sure you are connecting with the right decision makers prior to the sales discussion.

Examples lead qualifying questions:

“If you like what you hear, are you the sole person involved in making the decision to move forward?” 

“If not, does it make sense to reschedule?”

And then just level with them and be honest:

“Here is why I am asking, because I don’t want to get you excited about this service and leave you with the burden or task of trying to convince someone else, it works best if both of you can hear it together so that you can make the decision together.”

Time and money are the most common objections so you could also take a similar qualifying leads up front approach with them too!

3) Feature Vs. Benefit

“People don’t buy for logical reasons,

They buy for emotional reasons.”

-Zig Zigler

Often you will find yourself focusing on what your product or offering has (features) Vs. what it can do for the customers (benefits)…sidebar here, you aren’t going to know what benefits to highlight about your product until you get to know them, so ask questions. Click here for more info on connecting with your customers authentically.

For example:

You’re buying a car and the sales-person goes on and on about how fast it is, the leather interior, and how awesome the stereo system is. As the consumer you are thinking, sounds nice but not really doing it for you, and here is why…

If he had asked some questions, he would know that you have kids, you drive a ton and listen to podcasts, and you want good gas mileage. Combining the knowledge of the consumers needs with the features of the car, the benefits would look like:

“The leather interior is great for kids. There is a natural stain protection and an additional stain guard we add, and one of the moms I work with told me that even melted slime came right up.” She said, she doesn’t feel like she has to worry anymore no matter what the kids bring along for the ride.”

The feature is just facts and stats about the car, the benefit is how the car will make you feel. 

In this case, it will make your life easier and less frustrating.

A trick: To make this easier for you to remember, try committing this simple phrase to memory: “So what this means for you _______.”

Use this trick after you share a feature of your service, you then say…

For example:

“So what this means for you is my course will get you on the fast track to selling. There is no need to spend decades learning what I can teach you from my own 20 years of experience.”

4) Checking in on the journey and the golden silence

As an entrepreneur, I am sure you know how important asking questions can be. Equally, if not more important, is letting your customer answer those questions.

Believe it or not this old school sales tactic has been around for a LONG time, BUT people just forget to do it and if you do this it WORKS!

I see it time and time again, the presenter asks great questions and before the client has an opportunity to respond they are already asking another question. 

This is where the golden silence comes into play. Not to mention it portrays a sense of confidence in your product or service to your audience. 

As you guide them through your presentation, check in, make sure what you are sharing resonates with them, but once you ask a question be silent, I don’t care if it seems like an eternity, be still and let them talk. 

5) Permission to follow up

Here is one of the best old school sales tactic that works and feels natural. Simply get their permission to follow up. You don’t want to come across as annoying, I get it. There is an easy fix for this. Ask permission to follow up.

Permission to follow up example:

You have finished your presentation and the customer is a maybe.  

First ask why that is. See if you can address their concern and if you can’t for whatever reason, you say, “When would be a good time to revisit this conversation?” and,  “Are you okay with me reaching back out to you at that time.” 

This way they are telling you when they want you to follow up. 

There is so much we can learn from looking at what has worked in the past. Just because some old school sales tactics can be pushy doesn’t mean you should ignore what does work.

Implementing these selling methods will make you more effective and strategic, in sales conversations and closing the deal. 

The good news is, none of these sales tricks feel unnatural or pushy. As long as you plan it out, and make them your own. These strategies and tactics are the best way to avoid dead ends and pitfalls of selling.

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