Whether you have always fancied yourself as a wheeler dealer or else have only just begun to consider entering into the professional world of sales, there are certainly more than a few natural qualities, personality attributes, and skillsets that will make for a confident and trustworthy seller.
However, as with virtually every other area of modern life, there are certainly always a multitude of ways to improve your selling skills, so, with this in mind, continue reading for a comprehensive guide on how to become a better salesperson.
Strive to Develop a Winning Opening Line
Obviously, regardless of what glossy magazines try and tell people, first impressions do indeed count, and what is more, in the world of sales, the first impression you convey to a potential customer or client is more important than ever.
Your planned and probably slightly rehearsed, even just in the car on the way to the sales meeting, opening sales gambit will always set the proverbial scene for what is to come. Whether you conduct sales calls or else travel to offices and workplaces physically to talk to potential customers, it is essential to present yourself as confident and knowledgeable through your opening introduction and first few lines.
Further Your Business Knowledge
Obviously, sales and marketing are both supremely important components of any business model essentially because if a company’s product or service is not good enough for the client or customer, the transaction will not happen, and the business will not make a profit.
One exceedingly beneficial way to further your business knowledge, not just relating to sales and marketing in particular, but across the spectrum of different business fields, is to embark upon a reputable and renowned masters in business management online.
In terms of practical pieces of information and snippets which can immediately strengthen your skills at sales specifically, the following should help:
- Try and be driven by facts rather than all your own opinion on the product
- Be as thorough as possible without becoming boring
- Be as adaptable as you can be with meeting the customer’s needs and demands
- Genuinely believe in the product in which you are singing the praises of
- Prepare for your sales call or pitch before the meeting itself
A Positive Mental Attitude!
A positive mental attitude is far more than a cliché that is often found emblazoned across the front of clothing, and when it comes to bettering your skills and expertise in sales, positivity is everything.
Imagine yourself at a party; it is highly unlikely that you would even approach and make a small talk conversation with a guest who is quiet, judgmental, and projecting a wholly negative vibe. If you are a sales agent on the phone, talking in a monotone voice and sounding entirely uninspired and unenthused is virtually guaranteeing the potential customer is going to hang up immediately.
Be as upbeat and enthused as you possibly can be when attempting to make a sale, whether that be face-to-face or on the phone. Just make sure you do not cross over the line from enthusiastic to out and out manic.
Work Out Your Own Hacks & Shortcuts
One of the most often quoted tips, tricks, and techniques from repeatedly successful salespeople who seem to hit their targets, again and again, each and every time, is that once you have found a particular strategy that works, then they will use it again and again.
As you are probably working to specific sales targets and quotas, you will more than likely not have the luxury of time and will need to arrange a series of sales meetings each and every day. As time goes on, it is highly likely that you will become aware of more than one successful shortcut to confirming the sale or, at the very least, hooking the client or customer’s interest.
Be Aware of a Lost Cause
Obviously, the very definition of a good salesperson is that, where others fail, you can successfully sell the service or product to a private customer or indeed a commercial client, and this is how your rise through the ranks to becoming the top salesperson of a company.
However, it is certainly true to say that, for some people, no matter how incredibly skilled you are at sales, they will simply never invest in your service or product. A good salesperson knows, understands, and respects that when they judge the client is not going to invest, they know when to walk away.
On this matter, it would also be pertinent to be aware that, as a general average, that a sale cycle is around forty to forty-five days, so if a particular deal you are currently negotiating around is going on for much longer than this may be an indication that it is time to walk away.
Keep an Ongoing List of Referrals
Just as an electrician or a plumber works from word-of-mouth referrals, so too do a host of other professionals, not least salesmen, and women.
When a successful sale has been completed, and one would hope you have built a strong and mutually beneficial rapport and professional connection with the customer and client, it certainly pays to then go on to ask for a referral. Furthermore, as soon as you have received said referral, you should strive to act upon it as soon as possible.
Remember to Take Regular Breaks
Even before the outbreak of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic in early 2020, salespersons have always been one of the greatest groups of people in the professional arena who have intense amounts of pressure placed upon them.
Sometimes, in an effort to meet the ongoing, high-pressure needs of the company whom they work for, individuals try and work extra hard, through their lunch breaks and even working into the night and early hours.
Without taking regular and physical, as well as emotional, breaks, this high-pressure environment can lead to a host of negative tolls on not only your physical wellbeing but your levels of emotional health as well.