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My first proper sales job; I was told to get on the phone and start selling. The fear of speaking to someone and not knowing what to say was paralysing – sound familiar?
Although traumatic at the time, this was my greatest lesson on how to learn quickly by failing fast.
Everyone I spoke to gave me a different objection. It left me not knowing what to say and once again not making a sale.
In one of my moments of absolute desolation after another horrific call, I started listening to my colleagues, the more ‘seasoned’ professionals – of the salt pepper variety if you know what I mean?
And wow just wow, they were silver tongued. I never know the meaning of this until I heard the masters at work. They took every objection and turned it on its head.
This was my wake up moment; if you understand the problems (and the objections) you can offer solutions that people actually want and need! Once you nail this, the sales roll in.
I went from the bottom of the leader board straight to the top – and with that came job offers! You got it… my prospective clients started to poach me (a story for another day).
The reason I am telling you all this? Well, it’s because you can do it too.
You can achieve sales success, feel comfortable, confident even at ease, because you will know beyond a shadow of a doubt what you need to say and how and when to say it.
I’m guessing you don’t work in an office of seasoned sales people? So let me break it down a little more.
The first rule of selling is to ‘Be informed’ – or in marketing terms know your audience; this means know what their problems are, what they’ve tried and what they haven’t.
Step 1: Speak to people!
Step 2: Find out what the problems are by asking some questions! Even one is better than none.
Step 3: Learn to explain how you can help in a short, sharp and impactful way. (Good old trial and error I highly recommend). Done is better than perfect!
And finally, Step 4: Take all of the above and repeat, repeat, repeat.
The second rule of selling is to explain how you can help in a short, sharp and to the point way too. This is also known as your elevator pitch.
Crafting this takes time and practice but in general keep it to 20 -30 seconds and follow this simple outline
- What is the problem you are trying to answer?
- Who are you and what do you do that makes you different from everyone else?
- What is your USP? (Unique Selling Point)
- What does this deliver?
- What is the end result?
How could this information help you with your business or career right now? Why not drop me an email – I’d especially love to hear if you’ve put the strategies to use, and what happened when you did.
If you’d rather fast track this process and work with someone who is a seasoned sales professional, (cough – cough not grey yet thankfully) – you can also book a discovery call with me here.