When someone says they are a salesman, what do you think? Do you envision a church goer who can do no wrong? No. I’d say the majority of people have a negative perception. We always base the worst case example to symbolize the group. And really, it’s not fair. The good sales people are friendly, personable, and you want to do business with them.
But we have the perception of the annoying, pushy, dark sales person who puts you into something you don’t want. (No offense RGJ Sales Team.)
One of my graduate professors put a different light on sales. He believed everyone in their daily life is a salesperson. When you’re trying to demonstrate your ideas, you are trying to sell your audience. When you are making suggestions, you’re using sales techniques. Even when you asked your girlfriend to marry you, you essentially were selling the future of your life together. And that is the art of the sale.
And while I don’t consider myself a sales person, it is a large component of what I do. And having someone buy into your idea is important. This is the reason I thought this book would be valuable.
However, within the first few pages, I realized something didn’t seem right. I somehow knew the general ideas of the content… but how? After racking my brain, I figured it out. I had listened to the audio version of this book. Great Job, Andy. Way to pay attention.
Either way, it’s a great read. Below, I’ve listed the top 15 points that I found useful:
- Time management: limit the interruptions.
Remove email alerts, avoid interruptions as much as possible. Essentially, keep focus at the task at hand to finish it all at once. - Touch it once
Don’t save email to get back to another time. When you’re ready to deal with the email, then open it. By the time you go back to it a few times, you’ve already wasted 30 minutes. - Be Proactive, not Reactive
We live in a world of responding. The way to make change and improve is to focus on the parts of business that can be developed. Take time to sharpen your skills. If you’re stagnant, you die. If you learn, you develop. You are setting the stage to being able to react appropriately when put on the spot. As they say in sports, the more you practice, the luckier you get. The strategist looks at every challenge as an opportunity. - Daily Lists
Write down six high priority things each day and stick to it. If you have a huge list, you will generally do the easier, less productive tasks first to trim your list. Six things will keep you focused. Then assign the time you have to work on those tasks. Also, don’t schedule out your whole day. Give yourself 2 1/2 hours of reactive time as well. - Lead people to their own conclusion.
It’s a lot more powerful than telling what the conclusion should be. - Repetition puts training into practice.
- Educate to sell
You will attract more buyers if you are offering to teach them something of value, rather than trying to attract them by the simple product or service. When you sell, you break rapport, when you educate, you build it. In other words, be a market expert, not a product expert. - The adventurous parent/manager
Don’t be a parent that holds their child back (to climb a tree, jump off a diving board, etc.). Let them make their decisions and be there in the case they fall. You do more damage if you don’t let them try at all. This goes along with being a good manager as well. - Never lie
It never does anyone any good. - Conversations build relationships
The most mature person in a relationship is the on listening the most. What is your client actually saying when they tell you their needs. Just because they asked for a coffee cup, doesn’t necessarily mean they need coffee. - The ideal relationship
Clients want confident account managers. They want to be friends. They enjoy personality. And they want you to be an expert. The deeper you understand your clients, the better opportunity you will to help them succeed. - Leading to the purchase
Most people are thrilled when they buy. They want to buy. So guide them to the right decision. - Overcome objections
Always be prepared for the hesitation to buy. Or the buyer whose looking for the better deal. How can you put these to rest to get them over the sales bump? - Attitude
Keep positive. What goes on inside, will eventually surround you. Your attitude is the only thing you can control in your life, so use it to your advantage. - Answers
Right before you go to bed, focus on a question or problem. Without the daily distraction, your mind can focus on your problem, and you should have the answer by the time you wake up.