Why Everyone Should Work in Sales — at Least for a While

One of The Highest Paid Professions - Sales

Did You know that Sales is one of the highest paid professsions?

If you are in sales then you probably know there are certain things you have to do to become successful. One of the characteristics of great sales people is the fact that they are extremely confident. A customer can sense if you are not sure of yourself or your product. That's why it is so important to know your product and services. The more competent you are the more confident you become.

You must be a good communicator and have the ability to establish rapport with your customer. Establishing rapport helps you to break the ice and begin the process of relating to and understanding a customer. You must also have the ability to ask the right questions and in the right way. Start with open end questions. These are questions which cannot be answered with a simple yes or know. They entice the customer to give you more information.

These type of questions get the customer talking about themselves. One example of an open end questions is the following: Please explain your experience with investments. Listening is another good quality because this helps you understand the customers needs and then gives you the ability to recommend the correct product or service. Customers want to know that they can trust you and that you have their best interest at heart.......

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I am proud of my job!

Those who know me know that I am not good at sales - I'm too introverted.

But from my viewpoint, this is very important:

Becky wrote: Listening is another good quality because this helps you understand the customers needs and then gives you the ability to recommend the correct product or service.

Many 'salespeople' I have dealt with seem to think that communications is a one-way street. They do all the talking, you may as well be a lamp post. This approach immediately turns me off, and I will find someone else to deal with.

I also tend to be anal retentive - if the salesperson does not pay attention to details, it turns me off. If the details on a provided quote are incorrectly calculated, or are missing information, I will shy away from the deal.

Knowing the field you are working in as an expert and understanding the best and worst products is key when your roll is selling a product or service. In my own experience I have found that I gain the most credibility when I can speak from a depth of knowledge on the topic, demonstrate that knowledge to the customer, and then offer a range of solutions and costs while illustrating the capabilities of each combination.

Let's say you own or work for a company that runs a data center and you are seeking solutions for hardware and software that is no longer supported. I have the luxury of not having to make the cold calls so by the time I get to you my firm has already contacted you and verified you are willing to consider my company's products and services (I paid my dues many moons ago making those cold contacts...). I travel to you on my dime, inventory your systems and, with your consent, run some tools that tell me about the configuration of your systems. I take the information and compose a report and come back to you at a date and time that suits you and present my report.

No one wants to be told they have an ugly baby, no one like high pressure sales techniques either, I find that honesty has won me more contracts than lies. Tell the truth to your prospective customer, my reports give the customer raw information about their systems and it's my job to package the data in a way that helps the customer understand those results with out pressuring them to make a decision. Have a good look at the local procedures for the systems, get to know the users and operators, a series of interviews with the users and operators may enable you to offer no/low cost solutions strictly based on procedural issues (want to get invited back when a customer really needs help?).

Ok, so I tell you your system is old and not supported, what now?! Pack it in and tell the customer to buy all new hardware and retrofit their software? NO! I come to the second meeting armed with solutions! I generally take a small, medium, large approach; here are the minimum products and services you need to keep your system running at the commercial 99.99999% reliability standard, here are some products and services that make it easier with enhanced security but at an additional cost, and the grande solution that buys a vastly improved, secure system with all the bells and whistles but it comes with a much higher cost. Spend the time it takes to develop estimates based on actuals from similar jobs and NEVER advertise a product or solution that doesn't have a proven track record, no beta software of hardware that is still under development!

Distilled to it's purest form; know your subject as an expert, spend the time it takes to know the customer and their systems, give an honest assessment using tools that are not biased to make a sale, offer a range of solutions and a diverse schedule of costs and capabilities. Enter and exit your discussions with the realization that the prospective customer does not have to buy anything from you and be willing to accept that, the quality of your assessment, presentation, and reports should stand on their own.

Would you like to sell flooring?

Becky wrote: Would you like to sell flooring?

I don't know my pecky cypress from my marble, granite, or linoleum! I do know data centers and all the little brothers and sisters of the old fashioned big iron main frames. Rule #1 - be an expert in your field.

Otis, I would be very happy to work with you! lol

LOL.... I like you a lot otisptoadwater

jf1acai and Becky - yer making me blush.

Truthfully I have had the benefit of being taught by masters of their craft for 25 plus years, if you can get the rules right it doesn't matter if you are selling lemonade or lighting rods!

Don't try to sell something to someone who doesn't want it or need it. Tell the truth, even if it costs you a sale. Always leave the customer with the best impression you can make (and a business card - it's surprising how customers change their mind in an emergency).

I will put your advice into practice. Thank you.

Don't try to sell something to someone who doesn't want it or need it. Tell the truth, even if it costs you a sale. Always leave the customer with the best impression you can make (and a business card - it's surprising how customers change their mind in an emergency).

Great advice - mind if I 'steal' it?