5 Steps How Adaptive Selling Can Game Changer in 2023

There is a lot that goes into creating and operating a successful business. Whether you use unique marketing to stand out or work with a workforce optimization business to improve your customer service, a lot can be done to improve your operation. Making these types of improvements is crucial in beating out your competition and gaining the loyalty and business of your customers.

However, arguably the most important aspect of a company is being able to sell. The better you are at selling your product or service; the more successful your company will be. Attracting people to your site or store is easy, but getting them to convert is a different story. It is an art that takes a lot of time to master.

But gone are the days when you can sell the same to everyone. Companies are now using adaptive selling in order to improve their results. This is about providing a customized selling experience to every customer. This helps build their loyalty and shows that you care about them and they aren’t just another sale.

While this might seem like a daunting task, there are a couple of steps and tips that can help clear the air and help you ace adaptive selling to take your business to new heights. Let’s go over five steps and tips for adaptive selling without any further ado.

1. Be Aware of the Communication Style of the Customer

One of the first and most important steps to succeed in the world of adaptive selling is to know the different communication styles that customers will use. These include aggressive, passive-aggressive, passive and assertive. You will need to tailor your responses, as responding to a passive customer will look different than responding to an aggressive one.

If you try to respond aggressively to a passive customer, or vice versa, it can drive them away quickly. It is important to not only familiarize your team with these styles but also provide them with some guidelines for dealing with each one.

The better you know these styles, the better you will be able to respond to them correctly and start the process of building rapport. For best results, it is often smart to match the communication style that they are using. 

While you don’t need to copy their exact tone or verbiage, mirroring is an effective tool and can assist greatly when trying to make a sale, help a customer or tell them something. If you speak in a way they are fond of or understand, they may be more willing to trust or appreciate you. 

Sure, it can be hard for some agents to switch from being assertive on one call to passive on the next, but it can have some real benefits for your company. Training plays an important role here, so ensure everyone is comfortable with each style and able to replicate it well enough if need be.

2. Find Ways to Make the Interaction More Personal

As adaptive selling is focused on delivering a customized experience, the next step or tip is finding ways to make the interaction more personal. This could be through identifying the specific needs and troubles of the customer, offering your name, and sharing a little about yourself. 

All of this is aimed at building rapport. If your customer sees you as an actual person and not just an extension of your company, it can bode well for forming a better connection and relationship. They may be more kind, less cold and more willing to listen to what you have to say or sell.

Many customers will also be impressed at the effort being shown to make the interaction more personal and enjoyable. Even today, many phone calls from companies are still very impersonal and feel more like an interview or interrogation than a conversation.

If someone has a good experience on a call with your company, there is a good chance they will tell others, as well. Of course, some customers may want a quick call and don’t want personal interaction but will likely still appreciate the effort being put forward.

3. Show Empathy Always

Showing empathy is one of the most important things a seller can do if they want to help customers have a better experience. If you can show that you legitimately care, it can lead to great results and also help your customers feel more listened to and cared for.

You need to learn and understand the needs of all customers and get to the root of their issues. Instead of just helping them with their issue or selling them something, take time to show empathy for their situation. No matter how big or small an issue may seem to you, it is a good idea to be empathetic toward it.

If they are having trouble with the software you sell or they are struggling with a download, something as simple as saying, “I know how difficult this must be, and I am sorry for the problem our software is causing you”, can show a customer you care and may make them more willing to continue being a customer.

Whatever you are selling is likely going to solve a problem that a customer has. It can be a winning recipe if you can show empathy while still showing why your product can help them with their issue. If you simply try and sell without any care for them or their potential problem, it can come off as very cold.

4. Be Able to Adapt Quickly

The mark of a great salesperson is being able to adapt quickly. You might think you have a bead on a customer and their needs or communication style, but things can change on a dime. They might go from being calm and patient at the start of the sales call to being aggressive and angry soon after.

Someone who is not able to adapt might be surprised by this and could end up fumbling the rest of the call and struggling to keep up. As a good seller, you need to listen for certain cues that could show a person is changing their communication style or needs something different from you. It could be a certain word, a tone of voice, a pause, or even a slightly agitated breath.

As a seller, you want to dictate the conversation and be in the driver’s seat, but if you are trying to play catch-up after a call has changed, it can be hard to maintain the call, and you could end up losing the sale or a customer altogether.

You need to be able to identify the best course of action by considering things like their tone of voice, how interested they are, and how they respond to your questions. You may need to change your strategy quickly, and this isn’t always easy.

A big part of being able to deal with this is training. The more training an agent has on dealing with different types of potential customers, the more adaptive they will be.

5. Take Data and Feedback Into Account

The last and arguably most important step to ace adaptive selling is to use data and feedback. A salesperson's sales skills or intuition are crucial, but the data is their secret weapon.

Without it, their job becomes a lot more difficult. You can learn customer interests, pain points, common demographics, and more by analyzing customer data from previous sales or interactions.

The type of data and analytics that should be kept and analyzed include demographics of customers, common pain points, hobbies, age, tactics that have led to better sales, and things that should be avoided when speaking with particular customers.

Having this information can help you predict and anticipate the needs and wants of a customer in the future. While not every customer interaction will always go exactly according to the data, it can be a valuable tool for preparing for certain customers and ensuring you are using the right sales tactics for the best results.

In addition to data, you should also be very open to feedback. You should also allow customers to leave their feedback and thoughts on the sales or customer service calls.

While not every ounce of feedback will be a glowing review, there can be things to learn and improve on from negative feedback. Bad reviews can help you rethink certain guidelines or processes to further improve the experience you can provide to your customers.

In conclusion, we hope this article has been able to help you learn more about adaptive selling and how to ace it in five steps. It can be lengthy for some companies, but adding more personalization to your selling will often lead to great improvements in your sales numbers and customer happiness.

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