Be a Top Salesperson by Stepping Away from Your Comfort Zone

I’m sharing what I learned in 20 years in sales and marketing in 2 minutes. How we recognize and develop our natural selling traits is what determines how proficient we turn out. Stepping away from ones comfort zone opens the doors for self development.

Steps

  1. Attitude – Many of us have heard the statement “you can’t sell ice cubes to Eskimos”. I’ve come to learn “Yes, I can; I can sell ice cubes to Eskimos – I just have to find the ones living in Florida”. Remember, you make the choice of whether you want to make a positive or negative evaluation – either way is a 50-50 shot.
  2. Do not make it an issue until it becomes an issue – I’ve always been amazed when salespeople felt this urge to flood customers with everything under the sun regarding their products. Let your customer ask his/her concerns and then answer them. This obviously does not limit us as responsible salespeople the duty to proactively inform customers if our products or service will negatively impact them or their customers/patients.
  3. Ask and shut up! – Really! Why would you ask a question and answer it a few seconds later. Most people feel uncomfortable with silence, you should use it to your benefit – it will allow you to actually focus and listen to your customers, plus it will allow your customers the time to think. Just as uncomfortable as you may feel so do your customers, they will begin to talk soon after the question to terminate the silence. Next time you ask a question ask and listen – quietly.
  4. Listen, listen, listen – Oh yes, Listen to your customers.
  5. Find a need – some customers may know clearly what are their needs, some may require a little help; either group, you must listen and understand what their business goals are and how your product(s) will fit in the scheme of reaching those goals.
  6. OK to say “I don’t have the answer at this time” – We can gain credibility by showing honesty, we need to accept we are not walking encyclopedias. You must follow through and get the answer if you want to maintain the credibility.
  7. KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid. Really, keep it simple. Do not try to show customers you vast volume of knowledge. You will have a chance to do so if he/she ask you to elaborate further. Besides a good salesperson knows how to condense the key points with better impact than dumping a volume of information.
  8. Dress the part – People will judge you before you get a chance to speak, you have to start with a very positive note.
  9. Sell yourself – people buy from people they trust/like/believe, use any positive adjective you like. The point is unless you have the only super product/service in the market, you need to sell yourself before your product.
  10. Never give up – perseverance will win you customers. I really emphasize it. This does not mean you become a pest to a potential customer, instead keep adding the seeds for growth. Patience and nurturing of the seeds will flourish when done skillfully.
  11. Rejection – “Don’t take it personal”, sounds familiar? It’s OK to have the feelings that come with rejection but have them for a few minutes and then move on. Rejection is part of selling and we need to accept it. After a rejection plan a new strategy to go after that business. – This is when excitement kicks back in; we now have a new challenge.
  12. Enthusiasm – This really sells. If you are enthusiastic about your product and/or selling, the enthusiasm will carry over to the customer. You’ve heard this from management and probably read it in books, I agree 100% - enthusiasm sells.
  13. It’s not who you know but who knows you – make sure you learn who is the right decision maker and make sure he/she knows who you are.
  14. Walk away – If you are in the business of negotiation, sometimes you need to walk away. You walk away because the sell is turning into a lose-win situation and walking away may turn it back into a win-win by showing you are in control. Careful! One needs to feel a high level probability that the need for their product/service was sold.
  15. Never fall in love with your ideas – Once you mix emotion into the formula you narrow the business choices down to an individual, you. You must act based on logical business decisions.
  16. OK to step out of your comfort zone – A great thing about it is “you can always step back in” and guess what! No one will know you were out of your zone unless you tell them.

Tips

  • The setback many of us face is the external influences within our society begin to depress us into comfort zones as we grow to adulthood. We start developing and feeling at ease staying inside our comfort zone which can deprive us from developing our natural selling capabilities. How we recognize and develop our natural selling traits is what determines how proficient we turn out. Stepping away from ones comfort zone opens the doors for self development. How you speak, dress, think, carry yourself is in some degree connected to our comfort level. It is not an easy thing to step outside the zone, but I assure you the more you do it the easier it becomes – you finally realize you can step back in anytime you feel the need. Your selling skills will continue to expand as you are willing to try new approaches to selling given that you’ve reduced the worry of failure.

Related Articles

Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Be_a_Top_Salesperson_by_Stepping_Away_from_Your_Comfort_Zone&oldid=286132"