Your worst enemy is always a man of your own trade. ” — Spanish Proverb
I have had the opportunity to do some sales jobs with a publishing house that sold children’s books in volumes. I can straightaway tell you that it is not an easy task to sell anything unless you take an interest and take the trouble to know abut the product and also be on the lookout for any option that would help you in your job. .
Take for example :- that you are planning to buy a car, and you are a quiet and thoughtful person who normally likes to focus on the facts and take some time to make a rational decision. When you walk into the car dealership , you find that you are immediately fastened upon by an extreme extrovert marketing personnel who grabs your hand, claps you on the back, guides you over to a car and begins telling you how great this car is, how much you will love it blah blah, how would you feel? Chances are that you will go to another showroom and never want to go back to the first one even if the deal was more competitive. What matters is the kind of personalised service that you got or one can even say that the first impression that was made on you by the salesperson which was not favorable.on the other hand a person with a different kind of attitude might like the sales talk and even place an order through the same saleman who you rejected...
Salesmanship is all about making an impression or rather the right impression. A well established entrepreneur who came from a sales background says that ‘ first impressions always matters in business and more so when you are making a sales presentation. Unless you strike the right note and connect with the client within the first 30 seconds you can be sure that you will not have any order'.
There are other factors that are equally important where sales and marketing is concerned and I decided I would share some of the points I felt were important and that helped me in marketing and other ways as well, since I believe that any job can add on to your experience in life. Sometimes even the seemingly unconnected issues do have a way of throwing some light ...
What makes a Great Salesperson?
One cannot say that there is just one single ability that makes a person a great salesperson. There is no magic word nor is it because of something you say or do. It is because of a number of qualities that someone becomes a great salesperson. Let us examine them one by one.
1, Personal Discipline and developing an all round personality - personal discipline is a very important factor and this is something that enhances your personality spurring you on to achieve greater things in life . In fact making the most of every waking moment gives you a goal and also dedication to perform .This quality is what takes you forward. If you keep putting things off and go late for your appointments no one would take you seriously since you are showing others that you are not serious about your job. At the same time Personality is everything in sales since it happens with direct interaction. People don't want to buy from people they don't like or trust . They want to give their business to someone they like, and they feel deserve their business. So, being positive and developing a likeable personality is very essential. Dressing neatly and showing a positive and confident attitude definitely helps !
2, Respect for time – It is not just your time that is important but others time too is as important and when you show this respect and concern towards people with whom you deal it gets a positive response. It is also imperative that you listen to what the client has to say. I have seen some sales persons not letting you speak since they are too eager to say everything they want to say about their product. This is a wrong practice which will only put people off. Unless there is interaction and inter change of ideas a rapport cannot be developed .Developing a rapport with your customer is very important for a sale to happen.
3, Enthusiasm - You need to have enthusiasm towards your job which reflects on to others, especially when you are making a sales presentation. If on the other hand, while making a presentation of the product you intend selling, if you sit sloppily stifling a yawn and mumble your way through your sales talk you can be sure that the client will lose all the initial interest if any and you will not be able to close the order. Unless you have interest and enthusiasm how can you expect your would be client to have any?
4, Persistence – Most importantly you need to be at it. One can never hope to get all the orders but you learn something each time you make a presentation if you are a keen observer. You should use this to your advantage. Like for example – In my own case, I had gone visiting a would be client on a Sunday afternoon and found the house flooded with guests and the couple who had given me an interview were unable to listen to me .It was a lesson that made me realise that one should never visit people during weekends and holidays .
When you take an appointments or the would be client gives you an appointment, make sure that there will be no interruptions. It is wiser and more professional to call him or her before you visit them. Either way never give up just because you had some stumbling block during your initial days, weeks or months. Failure is a stepping stone to success and unless you use this stepping stone you will never be able to climb further towards success.
5, Knowledge of the Product – This is another very essential quality that every salesperson needs to cultivate . It doesn’t matter what the product is, you have to have some basic knowledge and should be able to satisfy the curiosity of the customer. The more you know about it, the more you can tell potential buyers. It is important to come across as well-educated and well informed about your product. No one takes you seriously if you are not able to give them all the details about the product you are sellling.Most companies have training courses given to their sales staff specifically because of this. And, one has to contsantly improvise and get to know how to handle questions by gaining moree knowledge about the product.
6, Never pester people or be overbearing – We see people knocking at our doors carrying huge bags full of household articles and you say ‘ not interested’ but ,do they go away - never ! they show you the products and plead with you to buy at least one of them...Sometimes you may buy out of pity , on the other hand if you are already busy or stressed out you may scream at the person and send him or her away . Some of the people will not open the door knowing that they will be pestered by the sales people.
So, it is important that you never encroach on others' time and pester them which is not going to help you in the long run. Look for ways to make the task more presentable and customer friendly. When there is resistance or objections to a certain product , listen patiently and clarify their doubts to the best of your ability. Be logical instead of emotional when you are overcoming customers’ doubts and objections.
7, Be flexible in your approach –This is another very important aspect that needs to be kept in mind while assessing your clients. The ability to modify your approach depending on what the other person prefers is what emotional intelligence is all about. This can be developed if you are a keen observer . It is a social skill that includes the ability to shift your behavior to create better relationships and helps you mingle and interact with a wider variety of people; it’s called versatility of behavior and approach which helps a salesperson to a great extent.
8, Be Observant , alert and learn - when you meet someone who is important to your success note how they behave. Are they loud or soft? fast-paced or slow? friendly or reserved? You can be sure that at least some of those qualities have helped them in becoming successful. Here , you need to retain your individual nature and characteristics without changing your beliefs or values, or to say anything untrue.
9, Practice makes perfect – practicing a sales speech or talk can be very helpful since it makes you confident and you are less likely to fumble or leave out the important bits of information. When you make a sales presentation make sure that you do not include the price as this might come across as pushy to some buyers and scare them away. However, the more you practice the whole routine of your sale from start to finish the more confident your approach would be and this automatically inspires a would be buyer.
10, Be Proactive - making an effort to ensure that customers and potential customers alike are served well is in itself going to make others strike a chord with you. Show people that you’re excited about what you have to offer, and you believe you’ve got a great product at a great price. You have to provide goods or services in a way that makes your customers willing to trade their time or money. You can no doubt pressurise people if you want, but that’s going to lead to a single deal, whereas if you give them good service , you’ll not only have clients for life but they may also send all of their friends to you.
11, Finally Be Well Informed – Not just about your products but, about everything that goes on around you. One can compare life to ripples in a lake – we see how each one at some point or the other comes in contact with the other changing the shape and direction. Similarly, everything has an impact on our lives. Some have direct impact , some not so direct. Once we are well informed about things happening around us , we can also take proper measures that are needed when things dont go the way we expected them to.The more knowledge you have the more options you have at your disposal. There is always a cross connection beteen different products and it only helps you to becomes a better sales person when you are able to communicate with self confidence and self assurance.
Conclusions
Being a good salesperson also involves building friendly relationships with people since basically a sales job is all about communication between the different parties of people and individuals . It helps to make friends, win friends and influence them and win their trust. It is also about capitalising on opportunities as and when you get them. Most people don’t give importance to this aspect , thereby missing the chance of a life time.
Like anywhere else in life you need to have sincerity and a high standard of ethics while selling a product without making any false promises. It is not just a one time sale that is important when you need to make a career out of it. At times , Trust is even more important than quality if you have been honest about your product. I have known a person sell an old car with ease by being truthful and honest about all its many faults. He got what the car deserved . Being greedy and pushy never helps in marketing any product.
When you hard sell you may end up getting much less or may not be able to sell at all , because people begin to get suspicious. So, being a great salesperson is all about studying the product, studying the craft and mastering the art of serving your customers. It is not something that is taught but comes with practice and a keen sense of observation.