Most
people are always striving to better themselves.
For
proof, check the sales figures on the number of self
improvement
books sold each year.
This
is not a pitch for you to jump in and start selling these
kinds
of books, but it is an indication of people's awareness that
in
order to better themselves, they have to continue improving
their
personal selling abilities.
To
excel in any selling situation, you must have confidence, and
confidence
comes, first and foremost, from knowledge.
You
have to know and understand yourself and your goals.
You
have to recognise and accept your weaknesses as well as your
special
talents.
This
requires a kind of personal honesty that not everyone is
capable
of exercising.
In
addition to knowing yourself, you must continue learning about
people.
Just
as with yourself, you must be caring, forgiving and laudatory
with
others.
In
any sales effort, you must accept other people as they are, not
as
you would like for them to be.
One
of the most common faults of sales people is impatience when
the
prospective customer is slow to understand or make a decision.
The
successful salesperson handles these situations the same as he
would
if he were asking a girl for a date, or even applying for a
new
job.
Learning
your product, making a clear presentation to quality new
prospects,
and closing more sales will take a lot less time once
you
know your own capabilities and failings, and understand and
care
about the prospects you are calling upon.
Our
society is predicated upon selling, and all of us are selling
something
all the time.
We
move up or stand still in direct relation to our sales efforts.
Everyone
is included, whether we're attempting to be a friend to a
co-worker,
a neighbour, or selling multi million pound engineering
projects.
Accepting
these facts will enable you to understand that there is
no
such thing as a born salesman.
Indeed,
in selling, we all begin at the same starting line, and we
all
have the same finish line as the goal - a successful sale.
Most
assuredly, anyone can sell anything to anybody.
As
a qualification to this statement, let us say that some things
are
easier to sell than others, and some people work harder at
selling
than others.
But
regardless of what you're selling, or even how you're
attempting
to sell it, the odds are in your favour.
If
you make your presentation to enough people, you'll find a
buyer.
The
problem with most people seems to be in making contact -
getting
their sales presentation seen by, read by, or heard by
enough
people.
But
this really shouldn't be a problem, as we'll explain later.
There
is a problem of impatience, but this too can be harnessed to
work
in the salesperson's favour.
We
have established that we're all sales people in one way or
another.
So
whether we're attempting to move up from forklift driver to
warehouse
manager, waitress to hostess, salesman to salesmanager
or
from mail order dealer to president of the largest sales
organisation
in the world, it's vitally important that we continue
learning.
Getting
up out of bed in the morning; doing what has to be done in
order
to sell more units of your product; keeping records,
updating
your materials; planning the direction of further sales
efforts;
and all the while increasing your own knowledge - all
this
very definitely requires a great deal of personal motivation,
discipline
and energy.
But
then the rewards can be beyond your wildest dreams, for make
no
mistake about it, the selling profession is the highest paid
occupation
in the world!
Selling
is challenging.
It
demands the utmost of your creativity, and innovative thinking.
The
more success you want, and the more dedicated you are to
achieving
your goals, the more you'll sell.
Hundreds
of people the world over become millionaires each month
through
selling. Many of them were flat broke
and unable to find
a
"regular" job when they began their selling careers. Yet
they've
done it, and you can do it too!
Remember,
it's the surest way to all the wealth you could ever
want. You get paid according to your own efforts,
skill, and
knowledge
of people.
If
you're ready to become rich, then think seriously about selling
a
product or service (preferably something exclusively yours) -
something
that you "pull out of your brain"; something that you
write,
manufacture or produce for the benefit of other people.
But
failing this, the situations vacant ads are full of
opportunities
for ambitious sales people.
You
can start there, study, learn from experience, and watch for
the
chance that will allow you to move ahead by leaps and bounds.
Here
are some guidelines that will definitely improve your gross
sales,
and quite naturally, your gross income.
I
like to call them the Strategic Salesmanship Commandments.
Look
them over; give some thought to each of them; and adapt those
that
you can to your own selling efforts.
1. If the product you're selling is something
your prospect can
hold
in his hands, get it into his hands as quickly as possible.
In
other words, get the prospect 'in the act'.
Let the prospect
feel
it, weight it, admire it.
2. Don't stand or sit alongside your prospect.
Instead,
face him while you're pointing out the important
advantages
of your product. This will enable you to
watch his
facial
expressions and determine whether and when you should go
for
the close.
In
handling sales literature, hold it by the top of the page, at
the
proper angle, so that your prospect can read it as you're
highlighting
the important points.
Regarding
your sales literature, don't release your hold on it,
because
you want to control the specific parts you want the
prospect
to read.
In
other words, you want the prospect to read or see title parts
of
the sales material you're telling him about at a given time.
3. With prospects who won't talk with you: when
you can get no
feedback
to your sales presentation, you must dramatise your
presentation
to get him involved.
Stop
and ask questions such as, "Now, don't you agree that this
product
can help you or would be of benefit to you?"
After
you've asked a question such as this, stop talking and wait
for
the prospect to answer.
It's
a proven fact that following such a question, the one who
talks
first will lose, so don't say anything until after the
prospect
has given you some kind of answer.
Wait
him out!
4. Prospects who are themselves sales people,
and prospects who
imagine
they know a lot about selling something present difficult
selling
obstacles, especially for the novice.
But
believe me, these prospects can be the easiest of all to sell.
Simply
give your sales presentation, and instead of trying for a
close,
toss out a challenge such as,
'I
don't know, Mr Prospect - after watching your reactions to what
I've
been showing and telling you about my product, I'm very
doubtful
as to how this product can be of benefit to you'.
Then
wait a few seconds, just looking at him, and waiting for him
to
say something. Then, start packing up
your sales materials as
if
you are about to leave.
In
almost every instance, your "tough nut" will quickly ask you,
why?
These
people are generally so filled with their own importance,
that
they just have to prove you wrong.
When
they start on this tangent, they will sell themselves.
The
more sceptical you ware relative to your ability to make your
product
work to their benefit, the more they'll demand that you
sell
it to them.
If
you find that this prospect will not rise to your challenge,
then
go ahead with the packing of your sales materials and leave
quickly.
Some
people are so convinced of their own importance that it is a
poor
use of your valuable time to convince them.
5. Remember that in selling, money is time!
Therefore,
you must allocate only so much time to each prospect.
The
prospect who asks you to call back next week, or wants to
ramble
on about similar products, prices or previous experience,
is
costing you money.
Learn
to quickly get your prospect interested in, and wanting your
product,
and then systematically present your sales pitch through
to
the close, when he signs on the dotted line, and reaches for
his
cheque book.
After
the introductory call on your prospect, you should be
selling
products and collecting money.
Any
callbacks would be only for reorders, or to sell him related
products
from your line.
In
other words, you can waste an introductory call on a prospect
to
qualify him, but you're going to be wasting money if you
continue
calling on him to sell him the first unit of your
product.
When
faced with a reply such as,
"Your
product looks pretty good, but I'll have to give it some
thought",
you should quickly jump in and ask him what it is he
doesn't
understand, or what specifically about your product does
he
feel he needs to give more thought.
Let
him explain, and that's when you go back into your sales
presentation
and make everything crystal clear for him.
If
he still balks, then you can either tell him that you think
he's
procrastinating, or that overall, you don't think the product
will
really benefit him, or it's purchase to be his advantage.
You
must spend as much time as possible calling on new prospects.
Therefore,
your first call should be a selling call with follow up
calls
by mail or phone (once every month or so in person) to sign
him
for reorders and other items from your product line.
6. Review your sales presentation, your sales
material, and your
prospecting
efforts.
Make
sure you have a "door-opener" that arouses interest and
"forces"
a purchase the first time around.
This
can be a œ2 interest stimulator, so that you can show him
your
full line, or a special marked down price on an item that
everybody
wants; but the important thing is to get the prospect on
your
"buying customer" list, and then follow up via mail or
telephone
with related, but more profitable products you have to
offer.
If
you accept our statement that there are no born salesmen, you
can
readily absorb these 'commandments'.
Study
them, as well as all the materials in this report.
When
you realise your first successes, you will truly know that
"salesman
are made - not born".
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