Is it possible to be successful in sales without overworking yourself and barely having time to see your own family? Of course; if you know what’s important. Understanding and using these 11 hard truths will give you the direction and focus you need to determine your success.
1. Identify your goal
Decide why you want to be successful in sales. Are you in it for the money? How much? Are you in it to prove something? What? Define exactly what success means to you and put it in writing. You’ll never achieve your goals unless you know what they are.
2. Got attitude?
Attitude cannot be faked. You must believe you are the best salesperson in the world, you work for the best company in the world, and you represent the best product in the world. If you don’t believe it, neither will anybody else.
3. It’s ALL about your customer
You, your company and your product may be great, but that doesn’t mean your prospects want to hear about it. They are busy people. They care about their OWN problems and success. If you want to keep a prospect’s interest, make sure everything you do is about THEM.
4. Without value, you have nothing
Spending 5 minutes talking about how you can save your prospect some money is not providing value. Figure out what is valuable to them (hint: it will involve making their company more profitable or more productive) and start there. When you talk about things that are valuable, your customer will make time to listen.
5. There’s no roadmap in sales
There is no cookie-cutter way to sell to a customer. People buy from people, not from crafty verbiage and pretty brochures. Stop trying to create the perfect phone script and start getting to know people who can say “yes†to you.
6. Be creative or lose to someone who is
“May I speak to the person in charge of blah blah blah?†Ever used that one? Get real. Better yet, get creative.
7. Your brain is your power tool â€" plug it in
Think. Brainstorm. Imagine. Use your brain for all it’s worth. Challenge yourself to think of new ways to approach your customers, improve your customer’s business, enhance your personal position in your community, or anything else that will help you become the successful salesperson you are destined to be.
8. Do your own work
There’s no crying in baseball OR in sales. You are an adult; so stop whining about what others don’t do for you and take charge of your own success. You have the ability to find your own leads, come up with your own ideas, buy your own laptop, and learn the selling skills that you are most comfortable with.
9. The answers are out there â€" find them.
Ignorance is not an excuse in today’s information age. With the internet and a phone, you have the ability to find the answers to anything put before you. Take the initiative to research your customers, your industry, and your profession.
10. Work harder, not longer
Your success isn’t about how many hours you put in, it’s about how well you use those hours. Your sales success is in direct proportion to the amount of time you spend with people who can buy from you. Make the most of your time by using it wisely. When you are at work â€" work!
11. Take care of yourself
You are in a position to become the best. Take this position seriously and invest the time and money it takes to become a better version of you. Find your unique vein of interest in life and take time to pursue this interest. Taking care of yourself first will put you in the best position to take care of others.
Tom Richard conducts seminars on sales and customer service topics nationwide. Tom is also the author of Smart Salespeople Don't Advertise: 10 Ways to Outsmart Your Competition With Guerilla Marketing, and publishes a free weekly ezine on selling skills titled Sales Muscle. To subscribe to this free weekly ezine go to http://www.tomrichard.com/subscribe
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