The Secret to Realizing Your Potential is Sales Talent

Organizations which attract, hire and retain great sales talent are extremely successful. 

Sales professionals that generate above average results build a culture that naturally attracts top sales talent to the team. 

If you are a Sales Manager - do not tolerate low sales performers. They will water down your your sales culture. 

If you are an aspiring sales professional - surround yourself with a network of people that are "A" caliber sales talent. If your network excels then you will grow professionally as your team grows. Once you are part of this talented team of sales talent then spend the time to foster relationships with these proven winners. 

Realize your potential. 

Personal Development Required to Succeed in Sales

You must improve your skills daily if you want to succeed in sales. Without a commitment to training yourself you are guaranteed to fail. Successful sales people have a burning desire to improve. Many successful sales people are big time readers. They devour all the business, communication and leadership books. Others take the time in the car to listen to motivational and I inspirational speeches. Regardless of where you are getting new sources of information, go get it. Those nuggets of information gleaned on a daily basis will help you improve professionally. Buyers enjoy purchasing from people they trust and like. This is easier to like and trust you the more you grow professionally. Improve your skills and watch you attitude improve as you gain confidence. 

Winning Salespeople

Winners in sales and all other professions go the extra effort. They do what needs to be done but would not otherwise be completed unless they did it. It is this extra effort when others look the other way that puts them ahead in life and in business. In sales, clients appreciate that extra effort especially when they are not getting billed for that little bit of extra effort at the exact right time that other sales people do not provide. This equates to repeat business and increased satisfaction by both buyer and seller. 

The Power of the Ask

There may be a right time or a right place to ask a person for their business, but don't turn that into an excuse not to ask for a potential client's business. Professionals place buyers at ease because they are serving the needs of the consumer. As a result of this 'servant based mindset' it is completely appropriate for a sales professional to ask for the consumer's business.

So long as the sales professional focused on building value and understanding the needs of client in advance of the request, asking for the business is a requirement of the sales professional. Otherwise aren't you just a tour guide?  Keep asking and both buyers and sellers will win. 

Communicate to Win

Many people understate the importance of communication skills. Successful sales professionals rarely have this luxury. Unskilled communicators in the selling profession don't last long.  Most great sellers of products or services are significantly better than average communicators.  

Great communicators keep conversations going with their potential clients even after the prospects of a sale dwindle. The pros keep providing enough value that the potential buyer has reason not to terminate the communication. They want what is being shared. 

In years past, sales professionals with incredible people skills could keep a conversation going simply based on their charisma. Today that is not enough since there are so many more people fighting for your potential customers attention. 

When the average person looks at the mobile phone over 100 times a day, I think it is fair to say that people have ever fragmented attention spans. It is not surprising their needs have become even more demanding. 

Today, effective communication requires using multiple channels to stimulate or retain a potential customers attention. People vary in their learning styles. They also get bored easier than ever before. 

Think of all the ways you have to share your message. How many different mediums are you currently effectively using to share your message? Next, ask yourself in those mediums are you using them effectively or are you doing it because you are supposed to have a social media account, because you have friends in a networking group or because of any other wrong reason. When was the last time you wrote a handwritten personalized letter to a client? Instead, I invite you to use your significantly better than average communication skills and share with your clients in many different mediums. You will keep them excited and engaged and this will help both the buyer and the seller accomplish their goals. 

Enjoyable Experience Results in Sale

When people are really involved in a experience instead of simply buying or being sold something then they are in a much different mindset than a traditional consumer. This 'experience based consumer' mindset benefits both the buyer and the seller. Next time you approach a buying or selling moment, I suggest you get lost in the experience. If you are a buyer immersed in an experience then you will likely naturally share the secrets to your buying code. By letting down your guard you will share meaningful information that will make it easier for an experienced salesperson to make sure that your needs are fulfilled while you truly enjoy your experience. The end result, the buyer has their needs met and a sale is made. Both parties win!

Celebrity Salespeople

Celebrities are revered for their personal brand.  Although many laugh about reality television celebrities, even they are known for more than just a name. It is their personality and their television persona that spellbound others. In the selling profession it is no different. People are captivated by captivating people and I call these captivating types in the selling profession 'Sales Celebrities'.

Have you noticed that the easiest way to get another talking is to get them talking about themselves. People like people similar to themselves or they admire qualities about others they wish they had. On television, people become famous for the same reason. Highly watched television shows and Hollywood celebrities become popular because others can relate to or aspire to be the other person or in the show. Successful 'sales celebrities' put their guests in the show. In fact they make their guests the star of the show.

Before you will have anyone salivating at the chance to buy your products or services you must become a  'Sales Celebrity.' This doesn't mean you have to be an egomaniac (though it has worked for some), but it does require that you build your own personal brand. To do so you must first know what you stand for. Do you know why you do what you do?  Do you have your motivation written? If so specifically what is it...

I call this what you wrote on the paper as 'your why.' It defines you as a sales person and as an individual as a whole.

For me, my why is TRUST. 

Ignore Sales Tips from Losers or You will Become One

In any highly competitive marketplace one is sure to hear from salesmen looking to make a friend that the only way to sell is to be aggressive and to 'never give up'.  If you haven't already heard this saying more than enough times from purported 'wise' individuals then we are hanging out in different places. To me, this advice is about as old school as you can get. And the salespeople dishing it out typically reminds me more of a grown up school bully than an award winning sales professional.

Now before you think I am a wimp that got his lunch handed to him in life and sales.. think again. I am 6'4 and 220 pounds. I have a beautiful wife and an amazing business. Along the way, I earned a business degree and a law degree from two of america's finest universities. I have a loyal client following and I run some of the largest businesses in my industry. I have been part of winning teams my entire life and I have never, ever handed over my lunch money to some school or sales clown. 

So what is wrong the advice of being agressive? Well let's think about it.  Do you like being pestered, bothered, troubled or harrassed?  If you answer is no, then at least you are sane enough to continue reading. 
No one likes being forced into submission, being hard sold or being told what to do.

Don't get the wrong idea and turn from a okay salesperson to an order taker. Pay attention to the next sentence. There is no getting around the fact that a salesperson persuades for a living. Re-read the last sentence if you have to. What I typically find in sales is one of two extremes either the bully salesperson or or the order taker, but where is the middle ground in the sales profession. The middle ground is easily surfaced if you review why we persuade and how we do it.

So lets clarify. There is a difference between being agressive and being smart. There is also a distinction between creating a need and trying to hammer a square peg into a  round hole and there is a difference between utilizing a trust based sales approach and using any other system. 

Think back to the person that last told you to be aggressive and to 'not give up'. Do they add value for their clients? Selling is not about duping the customer into believing you.  It isn't about getting a client to relent into accepting your position.  True value is created if you can build a relationship with your client, get to know their needs and fulfill them.

What I advocate is Trust based Selling... If you give it a chance it will change your outlook on sales, increase your income and most importantly improve your life. A trust based sales approach will generate far more results than any sales bully could fathom.

This doesn't mean that sales will be easy. Face it, sales is an unforgiving profession.  Only the best can succeed in sales.  There are plenty of people standing in front of the unemployment office every day that had the right intentions, however there are those select few that are doing it.  They are making thing happen. I would suggest that many of these individauls use some form of trust based selling but most don't know the name for it.