10 Tips to Explode Your Sales
Every one of us in the selling profession is constantly looking
for some way to better their salesmanship. We're
always open to suggestions, probably more than other
professions, because our sales determine our income.
Although these tips seem simple, they are a combination of
values that, properly planned and properly applied, will give
you an advantage over your competition.
These are usually not taught to the new salesman and are often
over-looked by a veteran salesman. Many people do them
naturally, while others need to be reminded. Properly applied,
they'll make you more successful. Without action, they're just
words on paper...or your monitor.
If you want to stand out from the crowd, if you want to rise
above the noise, if you want to be thought of as extraordinary,
here are 10 simple tips that will take you to the top.
#1 - Do The Usual Things In An Unusual Way.
Any salesman can deliver a quote or sample. Make sure you do it
differently than your competition. If they mail it, you need to
have it delivered by a courier. When you lose an order, do it
with "style and a smile ". When I lose one, I ask for the next
one in advance.
My customers know by now I'm going to do this and sometimes have
one waiting for me. It might be smaller than the one I wanted,
but it's sure better than nothing. And losing with class is one
sure way to grow your stock in their eyes.
You don't have or want to be extreme or offensive, just
memorable, in a good way. The quality of being different is a
sought after trait of successful salesmen and will pay enormous
dividends.
#2 - Constantly Think About Ways To Help Your Customer.
A successful salesman never sells on intrinsic value alone. He
adds a personal touch that is unique to him. He makes his
product into a service, with his ideas being the extra feature
that only comes from him and his company. Find new avenues for
them to explore. Send them business. Talk them up at trade
shows. Show them ways to make more money and spend less.
#3 - Keep In Constant Contact With The Customer.
Constant contact is essence of salesmanship. If the only time
you contact your customer is when you ask for an order, you may
as well not contact them. You won't be welcome there for long. I
call my customers with tips, leads, technical findings and
suggestions on a regular basis and do so without asking for or
referring to an order. Often, this leads to an order that I
never saw coming. Don't be a pest, be a member of their team.
#4 - Have An Uncommon Spirit Of Service.
Willingness to go above and beyond was instilled into me in the
US Army. My years as a salesman have reinforced that ten-fold.
Going to another town, 120 miles away, at night, on my time, to
pick up a box of parts we left on a dock and delivering them to
a jobsite a 2AM won me more orders than I could have ever gotten
any other way. Whatever it is that you have to do, in your
industry, to make your services more valuable than your
competition, you need to do it.
#5 - Have Consideration For Coworkers.
You're only as good as your team is. They'll determine how far
you go. The customer will only listen and forgive you so many
times. Blaming it on your truck drivers, the shipping
department, billing or manufacturing will only buy you a few
buckets of forgiveness. After that, it's all on you. Don't make
the mistake of thinking you can treat them poorly and get away
with it. They have long memories and nothing is secret for long.
#6 - Treat Your Customers Employees With Respect.
Never treat your customer's employees with less respect than you
do them. You never know when they'll have the ear of the person
with purchasing power. Whether it's a truck driver who comes to
your dock, the receptionist, the accounts payable department, it
doesn't matter, they deserve your respect. I always imagine they
know my grandmother and that they'll tell her if I'm not as nice
as I should be. In the past, I've gotten orders from having been
nice to a customer's truck driver, who broke down in our parking
lot, as he pulled away from the dock. I let him use my cellphone
to call his boss and his wife. I went to my house and got him
some sandwiches and a drink and brought them back to him and
then waited there for the tow truck to come get him.
#7 - Never Be Satisfied With Your Accomplishments.
No salesman who's looking toward the future is ever satisfied
with what he did today. He knows he's one week of being a
slacker away from being so far behind that he'll never get back
to the top. There are more people out there that you didn't sell
today than there are those that you did. I don't even like for
my boss to show me my sales numbers from month to month. I'm
afraid it will cause me to ease off. Set realistic, attainable
goals and if you reach them, reset them a tad higher and forget
you already exceeded them.
#8 - Have a Large Capacity For Friendship.
The ability to make friends - and keep them - is one of the
greatest assets a salesman can have. The majority of business
sales come from friendships. Invariably, he with the most
friends is the man with the most business. The greater your
capacity for making friends, the greater your capacity for
making money. The two are inseparable. If you think of your
customers as your friends, you'll never try to deceive them or
treat them unfairly. Many who purchase will wait for their
favorite salesman to visit, even when they're offered a better
deal from one of those who treat their customers coldly and say,
" Hey, it's just business "
#9 - You Need A Keen Understanding Of Human Nature.
If you set out to study human nature, you'll never have to worry
about having learned it all. The field is ever changing, but
always stays the same. The more contacts you make, the more
you'll learn. The more you learn, the more you earn. As you
begin to understand your customer's inner workings, you'll see
avenues for injecting your ideas and wooing him over to your way
of thinking. You cannot treat all your customers the same way.
If you do, you'll only attain a miniscule portion of your
potential. Every person you meet has their own way, it's up to
you to find their buttons, and it's not up to them to change
their ways to help you.
#10 - You Must Be A Tireless Worker.
It goes without saying that most of the better than average
salesmen are hard workers. Nothing worthwhile is easily attained
and sales are no exception. Properly directed effort is more
valuable than education will ever be. Properly educated and
directed effort is the stuff that makes dreams come true. If you
will work smart and hard, in sales, the sky is the limit.
Action, effort, hard work ....whatever you call it, is what it
takes to succeed. Educated and directed effort will never, ever
let you down.