5 Tip Tuesday: Signs of a Salesperson
Learning to be a salesperson is a necessary part of being a successful entrepreneur. If you love what your business can do for others you will be motivated to sell yourself, your product or your service. Being pulled to do something from the inside is more powerful than being pushed to do it from the outside. Sales is not just something you have to do for your business, sales should be something you want to do for your customers. You provide something they need to make their lives better, who better than you to convince them to live a better life than you?
The best salespeople I have observed demonstrate the same behaviours. Here are a few characteristics of great salespeople.
Signs of a Salesperson
1. Manage results not tactics.
Focus on what you want the result to look like.
- How do you want your customer to feel?
- What do you want your workday to look like?
- How many potential customers can you reach today?
Sometimes you have to alter your strategy or belief system in order to reach your goal. Don't be wedded to the activities you need to complete. It is easy to waste your energy focused on the details of the 'To Do' list and not spend any time pitching your product or making the sale. Be consistently focused on your goals and you are guaranteed to sell.
2. Ensure your network is given the resources to help you sell.
When you ask your network to help you, ensure they are equipped.
- Asking a blogger to promote your event: have you sent your registration link and social media images to the blogger?
- Asking a journalist to write about your product: have you told the journalist the features of your product their specific readers would want to know?
- Asking an intern to assist at your sales booth: have you practiced your sales pitch with them? Have you discussed and ensured your intern understands the problem you are solving for your customer? Do you communicate with them on a regular basis? Are you asking for their feedback?
3. Impress them every time!
Whenever you have an opportunity to encounter a potential customer make them notice you, trust you, remember you, engage with you. Make a strong impression on that potential customer so they cannot forget or feel ambivalent about you or your product. People buy from other people they like, people they respect or companies that make them feel good. You have to make an impression on their emotions every time.
4. Do one thing really well.
Narrow down the number of problems you are solving. Solve one problem in a variety of ways. You can have a variety of products but if your company is known for doing one thing well you can dominate any industry you enter because no one can do it the way you do. Have one destination and use a number of routes to reach it.
5. Approach what you do with purpose.
You must understand why you are building this particular business, solving this particular problem and marketing yourself in this particular way. Every decision you make professionally and personally is purpose-driven. When a salesperson is plugged into a purpose and can explain it well to a customer that salesperson is unstoppable. Know your purpose, communicate it to your customer through unforgettable storytelling.
Helping entrepreneurs determine their focus, purpose and path to marketing themselves and their businesses is what we do at Black Leopard Public Relations. Book a marketing coaching session with me to thoroughly analyze and receive an hour of personalized coaching service.
Each industry has unique challenges and solutions to convince customers that a business can deliver on its promise. Here are 5 ways each industry can "sell results" to potential clients and appeal to customer feelings rather than to their reason. Selling feelings not features is the key to success.