Episode #8: Four Steps to Sales Certainty

The hardest sales job in the world is selling something you don’t believe in yourself. The acid test is would you sell this “whatever” to your grandmother? If the answer is no, then get out of there right now! It is rarely that clear cut though. The more important test is whether what you are selling solves the client’s problem or not. Selling clients on things that are not in their best interests is a formula for long-term failure and personal and professional brand suicide. We are not here to make a sale – we are here to make a re-order and there is a world of difference between the two.

There are four key elements of the sales process:

1. Believe in what you sell. Sounds simple enough – how hard can this be? There are lots of salespeople though, trapped in jobs where they don’t believe, but keep selling. You don’t have to look far to find them. They are going through the motions, but you never feel they have your best interests at heart. They usually don’t have any other sales process than blarney and BS. We may buy from these people, but we come to bitterly resent being conned and we don’t forgive or forget. Today with social media, your “crime” is soon broadcast far and wide, warning everyone to be very careful when dealing with the likes of you. Having your reputation shredded in the market before your very eyes is a terrifying prospect. Don’t go there no matter how much short term money you can make. Act in haste and repent at leisure as the old saying goes.

2. Sell with enthusiasm.Selling is the transfer of your enthusiasm for the product or service to the buyer. Your body language must naturally exude belief. Your face needs to be friendly. This sounds a bit ridiculous except that many people in sales roles don’t smile easily. They don’t exude warmth, coming across as cold, hard, clinical, mercenary and overly efficient. We all love to buy, but we hate being sold and “super efficient” sales people make us very, very nervous.

3. Be fluent in your communication. Be it Japanese or English, a lot of “filler words” like Eeto, Anou , Um, Ah, etc., might help you to think of what you want to say next, but you come across as if you are not sure or convinced about what you are saying or proposing. We definitely don’t buy sales person uncertainty. This means perfecting what you are going to say when you need to say it. That means practice and lots of it, so that what comes out of your mouth sounds just like the idea popped into your head.

4. Don’t focus solely on the spec and details of the product. Focus first on what the client needs. Astonishingly, despite all we know today, there are still people trying to make careers in sales while wading through minute after minute of the features of the “whatever”. Where are the client questions, the needs understanding, the explanation of the benefits, the application of the benefits, the evidence – the proper sales basics?

Success in sales is based on following a sales process. That process is based on powerful foundations – your belief in what you are selling, your ability to fluently articulate back to the buyer what you heard they need and how your solution satisfies their need.

Remember to focus on these four takeaways: Believe in what you sell, sell with enthusiasm, be fluent in your communication and don’t focus solely on the spec and details of the product, uncover their needs first.