The best salespeople expect to succeed. They always see the glass as being half full, not half empty. They have excellent communication skills and really care about their clients. They see selling as a problem solving process where their role is to help their customers and build solid, long term relationships.
They know about their products and their market. Also, they work hard, especially when times are tough.
Sales is not Rocket Science. The basic principles are what matter and like the top sports people, the high performers in sales are successful because they understand and put into practice, the basic skills.
"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." -Walt Disney
Begin with your attitude. The best salespeople think positively. Beware of negative thoughts. Thoughts like, "I could never do that" and "What if I fail?" can seriously impact the way you behave.
When top salespeople catch themselves thinking a pessimistic thought about their situation they evaluate the evidence. What are the facts--not the fears--but the facts?
Read a serious newspaper at least once a week. Be aware of current affairs so you can have a sensible conversation on any topic.
Use the internet. Find out about your clients future plans. Keep up with technology. It’s the way the world is going.
Don’t use high pressure selling techniques on your customers. They don’t work. Treat your customers as you would want to be treated.
Never sell anything to a customer that they don’t need, or can’t afford.
Set yourself goals. The most successful salespeople have clear goals and can tell you what they are.
Set SMART goals. Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound.
Read books on selling. Invest in your own long term development.
Put together a sales plan. Discuss your sales plan with your manager. Use your manager as a resource.
Find out the long term aims and goals of your company. Where do you see yourself going in the next 3, 5 10 years. Set yourself a career plan.
Find a mentor. This is someone who is already successful, either in your organisation, or elsewhere. This is someone you can talk to and who can give you the benefit of their experience.
Learn new skills that may not directly contribute to your job. Learn a language, or attend a night class. The brain is a muscle that needs to be kept active.
Think. Set aside some thinking time to review progress and the direction you are going in. Most people say they are too busy, but it is a useful exercise.
Find someone who is already successful and mirror what they do.
Plan to hit your target. Break your overall target down so that is becomes more achievable. If you have a target of Rs.2500000 a year this makes no sense. If, by breaking it down you estimate you need to make 5 sales visits a week, this becomes more achievable.
Analyse your customer profile. Who buys from me? Where are they based? What is the best way to identify and contact potential customers?
Prospecting. Put together your hit list of prospective customers; targeted at people most likely to buy your products or services. Keep the list manageable. If you are going to contact 50 people a week every 4 weeks, you need 200 prospects. Quality is better than quantity.
Keep targeting them. Most people don’t buy first time, especially if you are selling the idea of an appointment to meet you.
If you are phoning your prospects write yourself a script and practise it with colleagues. When preparing a script always follow a statement with a question. This keeps you in control. “We specialise in sales and management training. Is this something you have purchased in the past?”
Understand that prospecting is a numbers game. Set yourself targets for the number of people you contact each week and stick to it.
E-mail is a great way of prospecting. It takes less time and can be very effective. Send information, or free stuff which will add value even if they don’t buy. When they are ready to buy you will be at the top of their list.
Remember the Pareto Principle. 80% of our business comes from 20% of our customer base. Focus first on existing business. How to keep it and grow it. Most lost business happens as a result of neglect. Build into your plan a strategy for your existing customers.
"Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them yourself." -Eleanor Roosevelt
Measure everything. If your target is to book 5 appointments and you know that, historically, you have had to make an average of 6 telephone calls to get an appointment in the past, you need to prepare 30 prospects. The ratios don’t always work every time, but do work over time.
Top salespeople measure everything. If it can’t be measured it can’t be managed.
Keep reviewing your market. What is changing? What will the market look like in 3 years time? What can you are doing now to stay ahead of the game?
When you call someone for the first time think about how you are going to introduce yourself. I like to give my first name then my full name. “Hello this is Sean. Sean McPheat from the Sales Training Consultancy. How can I help you?”
Speak slower. We say our names 3 times faster than other bits of information. If you sound relaxed it will relax your customer.
People will naturally try to say no, unless you have struck lucky and rung at exactly the right time. Give them time to explore the issues you want to discuss. Minimise the risk of agreeing to an appointment, but sell the benefits to them. “I feel confident that if you are able to give me 20 minutes of your time you will be much better informed about the changes in legislation that will be taking place over the next 6 months”
Deal with objections in a positive may. Most people will say no. That’s a fact. Look for the longer term. Send information. Agree a call back. Don’t beat them up in order to gain a short term advantage. If they want to think, that’s okay. Just make sure you agree the next steps once they have done their thinking
Practise dealing with the most common objections with your colleagues. There are relatively few objections. Two things to remember. Don’t interrupt and don’t attack your customer’s belief system.
If you are sending out information don’t leave it too long before following it up. First class post takes no more than 2 to 3 days. A fax or e-mail arrives very quickly. Follow up once you feel they have had a chance to read the information. Don’t leave it 3 weeks!
Acknowledgement
Sean Mcpheat, Managing Director Of The Sales Training Consultancy