Today, we are going to look at a top 10 laundry list that I had a little bit of fun with. These are the top 10 things to keep in mind if you want to be awesome at sales:
1. Don’t worry, be happy. We’re all familiar with that song, right? A lot of times in sales, people just get so stressed out, so overwhelmed with the pressure of closing sales. The anxiety can really show when you’re interacting with your prospects and clients. Of course, we do need to have a sense of urgency to complete a sale, but have fun with it. Don’t worry. The more stress-free you appear to be, the more successful you’ll be.
2. Avoid “winging it.” You don’t have to be overly rigid about the structure in which you do sales, but you do need a model, a process, or some sort of guidelines to follow (check out my post on the BASS selling model here). Avoid “winging it” because it just doesn’t work.
3. Ask for the business. This is so simple, but make sure that you actually ask for the business as you go through your process for sales. Either directly, or perhaps with an intermediate step, such as offering a proposal. If you’re selling a low-ticket item, you can straight-up ask for the way they want to make the investment (by credit card, cash, etc.). For higher-priced products or services, it might take a few steps to get there, but make sure you eventually ask for the business!
4. Talk less and listen more. “Shut up and listen” is a good piece of advice that I need to tell myself sometimes. Just ask questions and allow your prospect to talk more, so you can learn and better understand their needs.
5. Smile! This is simple yet important. Smile (within reason) during your presentation when you’re interacting with clients, especially on the phone. A lot of people don’t think it’s important to smile when they’re not face-to-face with their prospects, but people can really feel the warmth coming across the phone when you smile.
6. Set boundaries for your schedule. Much of sales is about time management, and having the proper process. Listen, you don’t have to take calls at all hours of the day, or all weekend. Depending on your industry, make sure you have some type of schedule or cutoff. Oftentimes, this will help you make more money in the long run because you have a better structure set up.
7. Follow up, follow up, follow up. Follow up until someone tells you “no.” Whether it’s a call, email, text message, or in-person, just keep following up until they tell you “no.” Obviously, the more expensive your product or service is, the more following up it’ll take.
8. Kick fear in the gut. Most of us have this inner fear of being the stereotypical pushy salesperson. Call that fear out, kick it in the gut, and take action. Fear holds many of us back from being awesome and incredible at sales.
9. Fire bad prospects. You don’t have to work with everyone. Make sure you have a good target of who you want to work with. It should be someone you can truly help, someone who has the financial means to invest, and someone who’s not going to wear you out to the limit constantly or suck up all your time. It’s okay that not everyone’s a good fit for you.
10. Fall in love with sales. It is a joy to be able to sell. It’s an art. It’s a skillset that I really want to encourage you guys to hone. It is such a fun profession.
That’s it. That’s your top 10 list. Go out and make it happen, and have a better than awesome day.
