Are you selling or creating relationships?
Over the last 12 months, I have worked with all our sales teams, in MID Communications, but it’s our business team that I want to concentrate on for this quick blog.
Helping and mentoring our B2B team to evolve into different sales people. The takeaway for the team on reflection was quoted by our lead business development manager, Martin Barrow.
Are you trying to create a sale or are you creating value, service and building relationships.
I was so proud to hear him and the team take this approach. Over the last 12 months, I have seen them grow, to become a team of creators that master and value relationship building that they deliver today.
So many sales people, react to the sales targets that they have and they react to the pressure they put themselves under.
The 3 pillar approach to improving your sales.
Over the last 14 years of my sales career, I have learned some valuable sales lessons, to which I have listed a couple below.
These points I have put into a summary and created a sales ethos of PRIDE, PASSION and PERSISTENCE. I love to teach and showcase this 3 pillar approach to our people today.
- People buy people, not a product.
- Story’s help the product, your business and your brand come alive which helps the customer understand more.
- Showcase your product and have plenty of knowledge about it.
- Don’t expect to make a sale on the first couple of meetings. Build a relationship that is based on trust. You won’t do business if you don’t trust each other.
- Be honest and don’t lie – people appreciate the honesty even if this means sometimes not selling or recommending an additional product. If you don’t believe in the product, neither will your customer.
- Business needs to be reciprocal – if they do something for you, you need to return the favour.
- Make sure the product you sell is needed, discover what peoples needs are. What are benefits, what are the aspirations? Listen to your customer and understand them and their business, don’t jump into a solution/selling.
- Make people feel good about themselves, ask lots of questions.
- Try to think of a win-win for you and your client/prospect
- Last but not least and possibly the most important deliver on your promises. Offer great service, serve every customer like you would serve your own business or even your own parents.
You can put them into the ethos and values of pride, passion and persistence. I’ll show you how these 10 fit.
PRIDE
People buy people, not a product – take pride in your appearance and pride in yourself. Be proud of who you are and where you come from, be the best you can be and don’t try and be someone else.
Be proud of the brand you are selling and the brand you work for, be a brand ambassador all the time. As a friend of mine says
Walk tall!
PASSION
Be passionate about what you are selling and passionate about business. Be passionate about them and their business, know about them and their business, have a genuine interest in wanting to help them and always think win-win. No passion, no sale, no relationship. Be excited about what you’re selling and what you do. Knowledge drives confidence and confidence drives sales.
PERSISTENCE
Don’t give up, stay persistent. Disciplined structure with good plans mixed with good behaviours will get you there eventually. You will get some no’s and that’s fine, with every no take time to think and ask yourself what can you do differently? Now get up and do it again. Remember if it was easy, everyone would be doing it!
Keep the confidence, stay positive and remember, winner’s win because of mindset. Give your self ten reasons why you can… over 80% of calls will go to voicemail, and 90% of first-time voice mails are never returned, so be persistent, call back and leave another if needed, give them a reason to call you back, don’t sell on VM. If they are not in the buying cycle they won’t buy and therefore won’t call you back.
Only 2% of cold calls result in an appointment so why do it, build conversations and relationships, stop wasting time hammering the phones cold calling, 50% of sales time is wasted on productive prospecting. Start going to meet people, and ask for referrals, and create more relationships on LinkedIn, these are called conversation leads.
All top sales people utilise LinkedIn and other business social media platforms. If you can get a date on tinder you can find a business relationship online. 91% of people would refer you but we only ask 11% of people from them.
I hope this helps article helps you get better at business and improves or changes the sales process you are currently doing. PRIDE, PASSION and PERSISTENCE. Live it, eat it, sleep it and breathe it…
Good luck and see you next time, or tweet me your sales tips @dannymidsimpson. I look forward to hearing your tips and techniques from your lessons in sales.