10 Basic Skills Every Salesman Should Have

Basic Skills Every Sales Person Should Have

In my experience, I am convinced that techniques and methods of sales are teachable to anyone who has the desire to learn. However, there are a few natural skills that are of great benefit if they already exist within those that want to be successful in sales. Without these, success will take a longer time but it can still be achieved. If there is no desire and dedication to learning or developing these skills, then the selling will be much more difficult and often very stressful.

Effective Communicator
Communication covers a lot of territory. I am not talking about superb orator skills here, but the ability to speak clearly and in a manner that is easy to understand. Sales is all about talking to people and getting them to understand what you are trying to communicate.

Ability to Listen
Along with speaking, a great salesperson knows when to stop talking and listen. They never cut someone off while they are talking, because in doing so they would fail to hear a key element in identifying what that person's needs might be.

Asks Great Questions
Salespeople are naturally inquisitive and know that in order to isolate what the real need or desire is in the buyer, they need to ask questions that will lead them to the answer. They naturally ask questions because they have a desire to help solve their problem.

Problem Solver
Another natural skill is the desire and ability to solve problems. Great salespeople are always solving problems. The ability to hone in on what the buyer's problem is and offering suggestions that will effectively solve the problem with respect to what products or services you sell, generally results with a sale.

Well Organized
I am not necessarily speaking of your personal surroundings, but more with your thoughts and methods of planning. Sales people have a keen ability to break things down into smaller steps and organize a plan of action. They know how to analyze what their goal is and in what order the steps need to be in in order to reach that goal.

Self-Starter and Self-Finisher
A successful sales person moves forward on their own. They never need anyone to tell them when it is time to go to work because they know that if they do not work they will not earn. They are also very persistent to finish what they start. They achieve their goals, even if they are small ones.

Positive Self Image
Having the attitude that they can do just about anything that they put their mind to is usually very common among sales people. They do not cower from meeting or talking to people or trying something new. They rarely allow negatives that are either spoken to them or about them to effect what they are trying to accomplish because they know who they are and what they are capable of doing.

Well Mannered and Courteous
The best sales people are very well mannered. You may not realize it, but good manners is a way of showing respect for others. People are attracted to those that respect them and mutual respect is fundamental in building lasting relationships with people..including buyers.

Naturally Persuasive
Another very common inherent skill with great salespeople is that they are very persuasive or know how to get what they want. They focus on what they want and they are persistent to keep chipping away until they get what they want. They almost never give up or give in.

Person of Integrity
A salesperson without integrity will have many struggles which will often include hopping from job to job. Honesty in sales is so important and it is almost impossible for this skill to be taught. You or the person you are looking to hire is either a person of integrity or are not. Be as analytical as possible on the evaluation of this skill.

Keeping Cash Flowing in a Down Economy

Keeping the Cash Flowing in a Down Economy

1. Get your mind focused on what you can control, and the opportunities that exist. Look for positive influences and people who take this climate as a welcome challenge.

2. Trim the fat. It’s easy for expenses to creep in over time; now is the time to examine each one. Re-negotiate payment terms if possible. Each employee must make a tangible contribution to profit, with numbers you can measure.

3. Stay liquid. If you know your business will cyclically have a negative cash flow, line up financing now - before you need it.

4. Your current clients are worth pure gold. Go the extra mile to retain them.

5. Go where the recession is not. Many industries do just fine in a recession, and the folks who are employed there make good target clients

21 ways to increase your cash flow

Cash flow is essential during a downturn. Here are 21 ways to make sure you are maximizing your cash flow opportunities.....

1. Test & Measuring System - for everything
2. Improve Conversion, Use Phone Scripts – Incoming and Sales
3. Put Prices Up
4. Add on Sale – Cross sell & Up sell
5. Public Relations Article
6. Direct Mail to existing Clients with telemarketing backup
7. Cold Phone Call – Use script
8. Extend Supplier Credit – or any other creditors
9. Pre paid sales
10. Use Debt Collection Agency
11. Closed Door Sales – bring a friend
12. Packaged offer – Quick moving line with slow moving line
13. Product Range add on sale – limited campaign (this week only)
14. Reverse Host Beneficiary (sell other peoples product for % )
15. Increase stock turns – stock rationalisation (slow stock out )
16. Events – novelty events to generate publicity
17. Sell excess assets
18. Small ads – classified – spot ads - for lead generation
19. Sales Team Incentives
20. Split level Pricing
21. Referrals – Have a referral or non referral price & ask for a referral after sale

TRUST is the key to any sale

Here are some simple elements of trust that you must MASTER in order to make it possible for a relationship to blossom:

1. Tell the truth. This is the number one element of trust AND relationships. Once truth has been violated, trust evaporates and may never return.
2. Deliver what you promise. People hope and expect you to deliver on promises.
3. Do what you say you will do. This is a test for being reliable and trustworthy.
4. Communicate in a timely manner. Rapid response shows you are responsible, on top of it, and that you care.
5. Bring value beyond your product or service. What you do to help others be more successful will be a true reflection of your character.
6. Be on time. Being on time shows you respect the other person’s time. It also proves your reliability.

Brainstorming Ideas - Seeing the wood for the trees!

Sometimes you’re so close to a problem you can’t see how it will ever be solved. This situation is so common, it even has it’s own cliché – “you can’t see the wood for the trees”. Here’s a brainstorming game to help you see things differently, and aid the problem solving process.

Show these shapes to your team, and ask them to individually write down what they can see. You may find descriptions such as; three coloured shapes, or a green circle with a diagonal line, a red hexagon and a yellow thought bubble etc.

Some may have made a small creative leap and seen the top left figure as a green “forbidden” road sign. Others may have taken bigger creative leaps and see a winking, bearded face or an imminent solar eclipse on a cloudy day. It doesn’t matter if you can or can’t see these more outlandish images – there’s no right or wrong answer.

Looking at things in a fresh, new way can trigger a whole train-load of thoughts, and that’s the essence of effective brainstorming.

Get the team to look at the shapes again and see how they describe them differently, second time round.

Knowledge v's Learning

We all have knowledge.. With so much information available to us today via so many different mediums we would struggle not to gain knowledge every day.

So, I challenge Dunn and Bradstreets comments and say nearly all the business owners I meet and work with do indeed have KNOWLEDGE. The difference is they don't have the LEARNING.

So what's the difference?

For me the difference is in what we do with the knowledge.

Knowing is not enough, we must DO. Doing turns our knowledge into learning. Once we learn something it then becomes cemented or locked in and is far more likely to stay with us. A habit if you prefer...

A good example of this is driving. I can read books on the theory of driving and I can watch videos of how to drive. This is KNOWLEDGE, I become knowledgeable of driving.

In order to LEARN to drive I need to get into the drivers seat and DO driving.. Now I am learning. This ensures I generate the habit and as a consequence retain the information.

So read, watch, listen, observe... Great KNOWLEDGE providers...
But you need the DO to get the learning..

I meet many business owners who ask for my help to keep them accountable on the DO... They have some the knowledge but have not learnt from it and so don't DO it..

The best way to get both KNOWLEDGE and LEARNING is to get a great coach or a mentor to help you They will give you information/skills (knowledge) and help to keep you accountable by setting goals and planning and doing (learning)

Consulting vs Coaching

What is the difference between Consulting and Coaching?

Many people today are considering hiring the services of a coach. There are business coaches, life coaches, employment coaches, etc. But do you need a consultant or a coach? Is the difference significant and of any consequence?

Yes, there is a significant difference between a consultant and a coach! A consultant is someone you hire to solve a particular problem you have. The consultant is the one solving the problem not the client.

As soon as the client has another problem, the consultant is called and they solve the problem. The relationship for the client is a very dependent one. They depend on the consultant to solve the problem.

The relationship with a coach is very empowering and geared towards the client becoming independent from the coach. In the coach relationship the client solves the problem. The coach works with the client to help bring out their strengths so that the client can solve the problem for themselves.

A professional coach has been trained to be quite the opposite of a consultant. The consultant is the expert and can have their ego involved in the process. The coach has been trained to not have an agenda, to be neutral and egoless, so that the process is all about the client, not about the expert.

The consultant is all about giving the client the answers. The coach is all about asking the right questions. The coach believes they do not have the answers for anyone, but have been trained to ask the right questions to bring the answers out of the client.

Let’s say a client has called both a consultant and a coach to solve a problem they have. The problem is that the client can’t seem to reach the revenue goals they desire. The consultant would analyze the situation and give specific suggestions as to achieving the desired goals. The suggestions would probably include some kind of system or process to implement. The coach would help the client understand themselves to the extent that the client would be able to create their own system that would work best for them.

For example, the consultant may give the client specific processes to go through in order to implement a successful cold call to prospective clients. The coach would help the client determine if that were their strength and therefore the best method for the client to use. What if the client’s strength is promoting to a room full of people, possibly hundreds of people but feels completely uncomfortable talking to one person via the telephone about the very same thing? Which would be the most successful? The coach would look at what will work best for the client.

The secret to selling - My 7 top tips

A critical success factor for all businesses is how good they are at selling.

Every business is selling something, a product and/or a service, but very few are actually trained in the art of selling. Here are seven keys to selling to help you on the track to greater business success:

1. Ask more Questions:Questions are the answers in sales. Too many sales people tell their customers the features and benefits of their product or service but never take the time to find out which of the benefits the customer is actually interested in. So, ask them to tell you what they want.

2. Set daily targets:A common theme in sales - chase enough customers in the hope that one or more will buy. In reality this leads to sales people only selling to the early adopters or price shoppers who would probably buy from anyone. However by keeping track of how many customers buy on average from a given number of leads and then introducing strategies to convert a higher percentage will ensure your sales team learn how to improve their results. Set daily targets and assess your performance against these targets.

3. Use sales scripts:No one likes to hear someone read from a script but customers do expect us to be consistent. So how do you ensure all your interactions with prospects are consistent and that you deal with objections in a professional way? By writing down what it is you say in any given situation and by training your team to use the same questions and language you can bring a lot more productivity to your sales process.

4. Offer / Guarantee:Why should someone buy from you and not a competitor who can provide the same product or service at a lower price? What is it that you offer them or can guarantee them that will differentiate you from your competition? Your offer must generate excitement to get prospects to make a decision to buy now.

5. Ask for the Sale:One of the biggest common failings in sales is not asking the prospect to buy. A fear of rejection, that the sale will be lost, prevents many sales people from actually asking the final question. Just do it and learn from those that say no so you can improve your conversion rate over time.

6. Learning:To be successful in sales there absolutely must be a habit of learning. Learn from other sales experts, learn from books, learn from your best customers and learn from past experience. Both your good and bad experiences can be a huge help in improving your sales success. You must record these experiences and build your knowledge over time. Write it down so you do not keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

7. Testimonials:We all need to be reminded of what we are doing right and why our best customers love dealing with us. Sometimes we focus too much on what is going wrong rather than what we are doing right. Focus on the good stuff and we will do more of it! Get your customers to write down their testimonials so you can use it in your marketing and attract even more great customers.

Question: When is the best time to make a sale?

Answer: Just after you made your last one. Ever hear stories of football players who stop scoring goals and it seems they will never score again? Well generally they change something about themselves; their attitude or a superstition or a habit; and then suddenly they are back in scoring form again and they keep scoring.

Get the message from your Business Coach, change something about your sales process and improve your scoring.

Discipline

DISCIPLINE
The price of excellence is discipline.
The cost of mediocrity is disappointment.

• Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.
• We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.
• All disciplines affect each other. Mistakenly the man says, "This is the only area where I let down." Not true. Every let down affects the rest. Not to think so is naive.
• Discipline is the foundation upon which all success is built. Lack of discipline inevitably leads to failure.
• Discipline has within it the potential for creating future miracles.
• The best time to set up a new discipline is when the idea is strong.
• One discipline always leads to another discipline.
• Affirmation without discipline is the beginning of delusion.
• You don't have to change that much for it to make a great deal of difference. A few simple disciplines can have a major impact on how your life works out in the next 90 days, let alone in the next 12 months or the next 3 years.
• The least lack of discipline starts to erode our self-esteem.

T.R.A.F. -What to do with that mountain of paperwork!

A large part of our time is consumed by attention topaperwork of various kinds, in both our business and personal lives. How effectively we deal with all that paper will influence what we can accomplish in terms of ourpersonal growth and development.

You might benefit from a review of the TRAF method,popularized by Stephanie Winston, to manage the constant onslaught of written material that faces you every day.

This method allow for only four things you can do with any paper that ends up on your desk:

• Toss it
• Refer it to someone else
• Act on it
• File it

Notice that the TRAF method does not include putting the paperwork aside to address at another time! Typically, most of us keep more paper around than is advisable. If you have little or nothing to lose by tossing something, by all means, get rid of it.