It’s not one thing. There’s no Hail Mary pass or silver bullet that will vault you from an average salesperson into a mind blowing success with results that stagger the imagination.
But these 20 things worked for me. And they will work for you if you give them an honest try.
- Take a long term view of the client. Don’t treat them as short term cash generators. Focusing on the next 30 days forces you on the client and creates product flogging behavior. An approach with little longevity.
- Sell on value not cheap prices. Clients want value at reasonable prices. If you can’t sell value get out of sales!
- Sell the client relationship. Engage with no end point in sight but rather a series of value exchanges that benefits both the seller and the buyer.
- Buyers rely less on sales for information they need to make purchase decisions. They do much of the research themselves. Enable them to do it better. Don’t fight it.
- Take a punch when you screw up (and you will). It’s not about the mistake. It’s about how you recover. Fix it and SURPRISE the client with what they don’t expect.
- Offer someone else’s solution when you don’t have one. An amazing relationship building act is losing the sale!
- Don’t let tactics drive you. Know your organization’s strategy intimately and let it determine your priorities.
- Know more about your client’s business than they do.
- Voraciously learn new stuff. Build learning into your personal brand.
- Muzzle your ego when things don’t go your way.
- Engage with the client, don’t pitch at them.
- Be the champion for you’re on the inside of your organization.
- Discover client “secrets” ; needs are not enough. If you know something intimate that no one else does, you have the advantage.
- Have a personal audacious growth goal with no idea on how to achieve it; keep it in front of you.
- Let logic set your destination; let your feelings determine how to get you there. There is no right way to achieve anything, it’s a matter of what works with people and their emotions.
- Listen and shut up. The best salespeople I know listen better than anyone else.
- Take notes, copious amounts of notes when engaging with a client. It shows you think what they are saying is important.
- Constantly ask the client for feedback on your performance and LISTEN.
- Honor your marketing team for their support. They supply the arrows for your quiver.
- Have a “serving” mindset. You are there to serve your client, not sell them. If you serve them faithfully, they will buy.
Not rocket science, but then nothing that works really well in a profession dealing with people ever is.
