We have heard many times that the sales profession is hard. We have also met many people that are extremely successful in sales and they say that it’s easy.
Is there a talent for sales? The correct answer is no. No one has ever heard of a child who had a natural born talent in sales. You hear about future engineers, doctors, athletes, musicians, etc., but you never about someone who has a natural born talent in sales.
Why is it then that some people are successful in this industry while 80% of people are failing miserably? What is it that is so hard for most people yet so easy for the rest? Hard things are activities or skills we do not understand or know how to do. Easy things are those we understand and know how to do.
Is it hard to drive a car? If you remember your very first time learning, you probably sweated and were nervously thinking, "This is the hardest thing in the world." Today, once you know how, you don’t even have to think about it. It’s just that simple. If I ask you to make a soufflé, without a recipe, would you not agree that it would be extremely hard? Given the proper recipe, after we tell you how it’s done and show you how to do it firsthand, it would be way easier, but you would still need practice in order for it to be easy.
Is it easy to be a doctor or a lawyer? It is for doctors and lawyers. They educated themselves all their lives, so now it is easy. The sales industry is no different than any other serious profession. It requires a serious approach, ongoing education and constant upgrading of one’s skills.
It is unfortunate that in one of the most important professions in the world, there are so many uneducated amateurs. Top sales professionals are paid in the top 1% of all paid professionals in North America. Those are the ones who have educated themselves all their lives and are still proud to be learning.
What is it we need to learn about? First, we need to learn about ourselves, other people, the psychology of selling, mastering sales skills/techniques and know that our first obligation to our clients is that we are the best we can be and we do the most professional job we can, using ALL our skills to help them through the sales process.
The most important part of the sales process is the sales professional. Success in sales comes only to the people that do this business with the most honesty, integrity and to the people that take absolute pride in what they do.
What is “sales”?
Is it pursuing somebody to do something we want him or her to do? Is it being aggressive, pressuring people or talking your way through the process?
Arguing with a client? Is it making people uncomfortable through that process?
Have you ever experienced any of these “sales” techniques? Maybe…
No, they are not sales techniques. Those are signs of uneducated, unprofessional people who are unfortunately working in something they do not understand, which is very frustrating for them.
Those same frustrations are transferred to the people they deal with. Now, through this negative process we have come to the definition of “sales.”
Sales are a transfer of feelings.
We could say “I feel-you will.” Whatever and however we feel is what we are going to be transferring to the people with whom we are dealing. We can’t hide it. If we don’t feel good about any aspect, they are going to notice something is wrong. They might not know what that is, but they will not be comfortable and at ease during the mental communication.
We are what we think, and more importantly, we are how we feel! It’s impossible to hide, lie, cover up or pretend. That is why the only highly successful people are people with very high honesty, integrity and belief systems.
As sales professionals, we have to make sure that we feel good:
About ourselves
About themselves
About our company
About our product
About money
And that we transfer all of these feelings to our clients!
Continued with Part 2
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