Motivational Tips to Survive in Sales

For many people in business, especially small business owners, the sales process appears to be one of the most difficult skills to master. It can easy seem overwhelming, and sometimes downright intimidating, but in all actuality sales, is a basic concept. You’re helping connect people and businesses with products and services that will make their lives better or increase their bottom line. By putting yourself in the mindset that you’re improving your buyers’ experience as well as your own income, you can get a grasp on sales success.

Here are a few tips to help anyone new to sales:

Understand You Determine Your Own Success – In sales, your income and results are directly correlated to your techniques and actions. If you want to increase your earnings, you must make the needed changes to how you’re finding and closing deals. You have a lot of flexibility over your salary, with extremely high potential for great performance, but it isn’t likely to move very quickly on its own.

Find the Approach that Works for You – Every salesperson has their own personal strengths and weaknesses. You may be great with cold calling. Or maybe you’re better able to close deals in person. Don’t feel obligated to stick with one approach to sales just because it’s the norm, and especially not because it’s the easiest way. While going outside of your comfort zone may expose you to talents you never knew you had, be sure to take advantage of your biggest strengths and continue to grow them.

Be Creative – There are many time-tested and proven strategies for salespeople. In theory, most all of them work well. The difference between whether or not they’re going to work for you is your approach. Look at what everyone else is doing. You’ll see many people use the same methods for years. If it wasn’t working for them, they wouldn’t continue to spend the marketing money. Take their proven approach and add your own personal flair – improve upon the working models of your competition and stand out in the market.

Leave Defeats in the Past – There isn’t a salesperson out there that is going to close a deal every single time they meet with a potential buyer. Losing a deal or even flat-out being told “no” is an everyday part of being in sales. Regardless of how it feels at the time, being hung up on and brushed off isn’t the end of the world. It may not even mean that all is lost with that particular buyer. Keep your defeats in the past, and always stay focused on improving your skills and adapting towards your buyers wants and needs.

Plan for Slumps – Depending on your industry, there could be wild fluctuations in your income throughout different times of the year. These seasonal slumps can be deadly for salespeople not accustomed to planing ahead. Even for more seasonally-stable companies, income will rise and fall – there’s no getting around it. While you should strive to grow your income each and every month, that isn’t always a reality. It’s important to save enough money when times are good in order to weather the bad.

Focus on Long-Term Relationships – Long-term clients can be a salesperson’s best friend. It’s much easier to get an order from a buyer that knows you and your company and has had positive experiences in the past. While gathering new leads should always be part of your business plan in order to ensure growth, spend a significant amount of time nurturing the good and promising customers that you already have.

Sales may not be an easy field to dive right into, but it has enormous upside for the motivated salesperson. If you’re not seeing the results you’re anticipating, it’s important to consider your strategy and how it is contributing to your revenue. If you want to make a change, you need to understand that it starts with you and your willingness to take action.

Follow the 80/20 Rule. When meeting with a potential buyer, you should try to talk 20% of the time and allow them to talk 80% of the time - a lot of salespeople and sales managers get this one confused.

April 30th, 2014 “Show, Tell & Sell” 1:00 pm EST / 10:00 am PST
Are you struggling to reach your sales targets or get your small business off the ground? Are you putting in the extra effort but still seeing the same average results? www.show-tell-sell.com

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