A good salesperson is somebody who is friendly, believable and honest – all characteristics of persuasive people. In wireless retail, when customers come in to buy a phone, your job is to help them find a phone that suits them and convince them that the price is right. Your personality – in helping and convincing – is vital to your success in closing the sale.

As always, selling is about establishing trust.

Alan Fairweather of BusinessKnowHow.com says that being persuasive involves an understanding of how people think. "If you're going to persuade someone to change their behavior, their viewpoint, their attitude, any other aspect of their business or personal life, then you're talking about changing a mindset," he writes.

To change people's mindsets, you need to convince them of the benefits of, for example, purchasing this brand/model of phone over another one. Fairweather lists off the following seven skills, qualities and characteristics that make you believable and trustworthy.

1. Belief: "Successful persuaders believe in themselves and what they're talking about. After all, if you don't believe in what you're saying, how do you expect anyone else to?" You have to be confident and honest because customers can easily spot a fake, overzealous salesperson.
2. Enthusiasm: "I've known people who totally believe in what they're saying but fail to communicate with any enthusiasm or passion. If you want to persuade someone, you'd better find a way to get enthusiastic about it." I think what Fairweather is trying to say is: Show that you care. Show customers that you want to be helpful and make sure they're satisfied with your service and their purchase.
3. Knowledge: "You must know what you're talking about, so make sure you have all the information, facts, figures and statistics to make your case," he writes. Your wireless expertise is why the customer is talking to you in the first place. Offer helpful advice and cite previous customers who were happy or displeased with a given product, to show you understand the pros and cons of various mobile phones.
4. Empathy: "Put yourself in the (customer's) shoes. What do you think is important to them? Consider carefully why they should accept what you're saying. You need to think about how you might feel in (their) circumstances and what might persuade you to change your mind (about a given phone)." This is one of the most important sales techniques: remembering how you felt when you were first phone shopping. What questions did you want answered? What sales approach worked on you?
5. Persistence: "If you want to persuade someone, don't give up on the first 'no' or rejection. Persist and persist – but do it nicely! There's a fine line between being persistent and being a nuisance. Watch the (customer's) reactions and if it looks like you're persisting too much, stop!" Customers don't respond well to pushy salespeople. Remember that you're there to help. Insist on being helpful. Say things like: "OK, so that phone won't work, but I'm sure we can find one that you'll like. Let's take a look at one of these..."
6. Energy: "Put energy into all your interactions with other people. Energy fuels enthusiasm; we are all persuaded by people with energy. Many TV presenters use their energy to sell us their ideas (and products)." Think about the ShamWow guy (a.k.a. Vince Shlomi). He has a lot of energy. And, admittedly, it's persuasive – people bought ShamWows. He even went on to sell Slap Chops, with much success. Obviously, a good salesperson doesn't have to adopt a TV pitch type of energy, but the point is: Be upbeat and friendly. It works.
7. Consistency: "Everything you do or say is important, everything counts," writes Fairweather. "If you're trying to persuade someone to keep their promises, then you must always keep yours. If you say, 'I'll phone you back in 10 minutes,' then phone back in nine minutes." Consistency is essential in developing trust with the customer. Demonstrate that you're reliable and they'll feel comfortable doing business with you.

- newsletter@iQmetrix.com

* To read more Helpful Sales Tips, check out the following articles from iQmetrix News & Views:

What Customers Want: Top 3 Smartphone Features

How to Become a Better Negotiator

Do You Sell the Network or the Device?

Don't Let Your Product Knowledge Kill Sales

Sales Training Tips for 2010