Are You Learning to Sell?

That's the question my big shot internet multi-millionaire mentor asked me this morning. Are you learning to sell? No chit-chat. No how's the wife, son, weather. No interest in my health. This cat has zero interest in anything but my sales. I Love That! If you're in business you have one object. Make that sale! During your business day - Everything you do must help you make that sale. Yeah, you do have to build relationships with clients. You must behave with integrity. You Should under promise. And Over deliver. You must follow up. Stay in contact, etc. But you can do those things after you make that sale. During the selling process you concentrate on making the sale. Focus on *that* sale. Sell like your business depends on *this* one sale. It does, you know. You get'em one at a time. You go through the selling process. Like this -- 1) Build rapport. Ask questions then Shut The Hell Up & Listen. 2) Qualify your suspect. Keep asking Questions, Shut Up The Hell Up & Listen. 3) Create desire for your product. Find their problems & *prove* that your product/service is their best solution. 4) Build value in yourself & your business organization 5) Ask for the sale. In other words, close. Example: Do you want to put this on your credit card, or do you prefer writing a check? Then Shut The Hell Up! 6) Handle objections if necessary. Smile & re-state *Their* favorite solution to *Their* problem. (Your product/ service's benefits, of course) Ask them to agree you've clearly answered their concerns. 7) Again ask for the sale. Example: Let's take care of this now so you can start enjoying...benefits/ solutions, etc. Then Shut The ____________! 8) Follow-up/handle buyer's remorse. Re-state their logical reasons for buying today his was the right decision, you're wise to act today,etc. Do you have to do every step? I do. Perhaps you're lazy and want to skip around or over the steps. OK. Go ahead. Let me know how you're making out. I still remember my start in formal selling. Believe it or not, I started selling at nine years old. Quick story. I grew up on a small farm in Kentucky. Things were a little tight around the Thorpe household. My Dad either couldn't afford or didn't believe in the concept of allowances. But he did give me a portion of the family garden to grow whatever I wanted. He explained that I should grow a cash crop that I could sell to neighbors. That's what I did. I've always loved popcorn. So I figured popcorn would be a good seller. Nope. I couldn't give it away. My Dad had warned me that might happen. Amazing. Even at nine I knew it all. { CLUE } But I didn't give up. I did some market research during the winter. In Other words, I asked my Mom what she'd buy from me. She said green beans. Mom was right! My most successful crop was green beans. That was great. Growing beans didn't take a lot of work and neighbors wanted fresh picked green beans. I sold beans by the peck, by the bag, by the bushel. Any old way they wanted them, that's the way I sold them. I've gone on to sell everything from illegal substances (Hey, it was the sixties) to pre-planned burials. So when my big-shot multi-millionaire mentor asked me if I was learning to sell...I loved it. Because without sales you're not in business. Make that sale!