‘Sales’ is not a dirty word. I recently published a book on selling (“Top Secrets for Sales Success. 101 Secrets that Sold $$$ Millions”) and when I introduced it to the publisher, he said “That’s great, most businesspeople find sales ‘icky’! They know they must make sales, but they hate it. Your book will help them.” This widely held fear and contempt for sales is a major problem.
Every business relies on making sales. If there are no sales, there is no profit. If there is no profit, the business ceases to exist, and there are no jobs. Everyone in an organisation relies on someone making sales. If you are a sole trader, that means that you are in sales.
When the term ‘sales’ or ‘salesperson’ is mentioned, the image immediately comes to mind of some pushy, unscrupulous extrovert that will make you buy something that you don’t need, or worse, take your money and deliver nothing. These characters are what has been portrayed in movies such as ‘Tim Men’. No one wants to be seen as one of them, yet everyone wants to earn an income that ultimately relies on ‘sales’.
Most salespeople honestly represent their offerings with the intent of supplying them to people that need or who can use them. The first step to learning to love selling is: Don’t ‘Sell’ in the widely believed method of pushing what you’ve got at everyone.
Of course, you know the features of what you are offering, and you know that it has real benefits for those that need or want it. Do your research and get in front of (either in person or virtually) people that have wants, needs, desires, fears, or frustrations that your offering will address. Then focus. Only sell to people that really need or want to buy what you are offering.
Put yourself in the prospects’ shoes and ask them questions that you would want to be asked to uncover what you want/need. Develop a conversation with them and quickly determine if what you offer is a good fit for them. If there is no fit, bid them farewell in a friendly manner, and if you can, offer them advice for where they can find what they are looking for. They will remember your friendly, helpful approach and probably come back when they need you.
When I was selling real estate, as a respite from being in telecommunications, I was highly successful because I took the time to interview my customers. If possible, I visited their current home to understand how they liked to live, identified the gap between what they had and what they needed, then set about finding exactly what they wanted. I didn’t waste their time or mine showing them homes that didn’t match their lifestyle, budget, or requirements. Using this method, I became #2 salesperson in the large Real Estate group in Melbourne within 6 months.
Similarly in major ICT infrastructure sales. I took a consultative approach, identified the real business needs of the prospects, then set about designing solutions for them in conjunction with my engineering and service support teams. This approach took me quickly to #1 salesperson, then ultimately MD of the company.
These successes were based on my desire to address customer requirements, add value, and establish an ongoing trusted relationship with them. It was not ‘selling’, it was entering into mutually beneficial transactions. I took pride in the solutions I/we provided. Several customers became good friends outside of business based on our mutual respect.
To grow your business, ensure that everyone in your business, especially you, demonstrates the attitude of providing genuine customer value before, during, and after the transaction.
If you want to have a sustainable, healthy business: Love selling!
