8 ways to land an impressive sale in Singapore

Singapore has a unique culture when it comes to sales. As someone who has studied, compared and developed insights about the selling economies around the world, I like to describe Singapore’s sales culture as “transactional.”

You can see it in the food stalls at Singapore’s famous hawker centres, where the “Aunties” quickly take your order, and then the order of the next person and the next person before you’ve paid and stepped out of line.

This culture is a part of Singapore’s DNA, dating back to the 1800s, when it was set up as a trading post for the British East India Company.

However, when it comes to business, effective selling requires a different approach. Rather than the quick-sell, clients seek a more consultative dialogue.

Relationships are important, but so is value, clarity, planning ahead, and, in this day and age, social media. If you’re focusing on sales in Singapore, these eight steps will help you improve performance.

1. Telling is not selling. Edit your sales pitch carefully before entering a meeting. If a client is taking the time to meet with you, you can assume that he or she has done some basic research and is seeking to glean more about your product or service than what’s available online.

Simply put: This is not your opportunity to do a product feature dump. Instead, tailor effective insights to the client’s questions and lead him or her on a journey of discovery, guiding the conversation to a purposeful conclusion.

2. Plan ahead. Every client has different needs, and should be treated as such. Before heading into a meeting, spend time coming up with the appropriate questions for that particular client to better help you understand the value that you can provide.

Choose your questions carefully to ensure your queries really probe for answers. By asking detailed questions, rather than open-ended, general questions, you’ll learn much more. The key to a sale is often asking the right questions to the right people at the right time.

3. Your revenue quota is not a word quota. In general, salespeople talk too much. Why? It’s a simple matter of known versus unknown. Talking generally about a product is easier than guiding a client to reveal his or her needs. However, research shows that in meetings where a customer talks more, he or she is more likely to buy.

Before heading into a meeting, practice what you want to say, using fewer words than usual. And remember that in Asia, English might be a second language. Be respectful of that, and stick to simple, clear English. This isn’t time to show off your Scrabble-winning vocabulary.

4. The relationship is no longer king. Business in Asia has been based primarily—and often solely—on the relationship. And while that is still important, business merit, value, ease of doing business and other factors carry more weight today than ever before. Focus on value drivers and see where the conversation leads.

5. Always put needs before solutions. I can’t tell you how many bad attempts at selling I’ve been on the receiving end of in Singapore. At the root of almost all of them is the fact that the seller focused entirely on selling a product that I didn’t need. By pushing a product that a client doesn’t need, you put him or her on the defensive.

If your follow-up involves offering something else, the customer’s reaction will go from bad to worse. In this situation, rather than selling harder, take a moment and ask yourself if you fully understand the customer’s needs. Only then can you offer an effective solution.

6. Social media has changed the face of sales. With the availability of information today, a buyer will research solutions, supplies and even sellers before making contact, handling up to 60 percent of the buying process solo.

Today’s top sellers are taking advantage of that pre-research by participating in blogs, online user groups and social media. By contributing to discussions as subject matter experts, those sellers are building a brand that customers remember.

7. Which comes first, sales or marketing? In the past, there was a clean-cut cycle of sales and marketing. Marketers could create needs and influence buyers and sellers would engage those buyers and win business.

Today, those roles have blurred. Top sellers must work closely with marketers to align messaging and influence buyers at specific stages in the decision process.

The information is conveyed through social media, online discussion, white papers and other means. We refer to this as “flow,” and it’s a requirement for success in today’s business environment.

8. Pick up the phone. I can’t convey enough the value of a short, clear conversation. It’s persuasive, direct and cuts through the clutter of email.

While Singaporeans often prefer non-verbal communication modes, such as email and text messaging, the phone can truly be a game changer in today’s selling environment.