True Sales Professionals are Born
True Sales Professionals are Born
WRONG – Sales is like any other profession. If you are an accountant you went through years of training to receive that designation of CPA.
If you are lawyer, you went through years of training to earn the title Attorney.
If you are a computer professional, you earned your professional designations through hard work and training.
Why would learning to sell be any different?
Anyone Can Be a Great at Sales.
It is true that each of us has a certain propensity to a specific career.
But as I mentioned in my last email the sooner you realize that everyone is in sales the sooner you will be inclined to take the necessary training to improve your business, the quality of your life, and take the stress out of selling while creating more sales.
Let me tell you a true story. I recently sent out a letter to announce a new product. I received a call from a company president and this almost exactly how the conversion went.
Caller: Is this for real? (There was not introduction. He actually started the call off this way.)
Me: Is what for real?
Caller: I received this letter about Small Business Mastery….
Me: Yes, it is for real and it took me three years to develop this product.
Caller: You have five minutes to tell me about it.
I told him about the product and he agreed to buy from me. After our call, he said “sign me up.” That was the fastest $3,000 I ever made.
I used to be intimidated by people like that and I would get flustered. I now understand how this individual wanted to be treated and during that call I treated him exactly that way. It took five minutes and I got the order.
I don’t consider myself a professional sales representative. I do consider myself well schooled on understanding people and the art of questioning.
I could not do that ten years ago. I took everything personally. I treated everyone the same way and when they did not respond as I wanted them to I felt rejected.
Let me contrast this with another sales call.
This individual called for coaching. I immediately recognized his behavior style and knew this would not be a quick close. I spent time understanding his needs and what he wanted to accomplish. I took some time to write a proposal and emailed it to him. I called him every two weeks to see how he was doing and I focused on building the relationship.
Four months later, I was asked to meet with a member of the board of directors over breakfast to discuss my proposal (naturally it was quite large for the Board of Directors to get involved). In this meeting, in addition to the board member, we had the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) involved as well.
Understanding their different behavior styles I would answer their questions in a way they made it easy for them to understand. The CFO wanted to know the impact on the bottom line. The board member wanted to explore the impact on the corporate strategy and my client wanted to know how it would help him grow into the new position.
After that meeting I waited two weeks to call back. When I called I heard “when can we start?”
I know if I pushed for a close during that meeting I would have lost the opportunity.
How much was the deal worth? I put into my pocket $20K for four hours of coaching a month for 12 months. Not bad. I don’t tell you this to brag but I tell you this because I took the time to learn the skills I needed to be successful.
And you can be successful to. Sales and selling skills are learned skills and they can be acquired. They can be mastered just as a CPA masters accounting or a lawyer masters law.
Know that masters of any subject matter requires on-going learning and education. When you were in grade school, you learned to read and write by doing it. Now it is second nature to you and you don’t even think about it.
Selling can be the same way.
To Your Success,
Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
info@yourbusinesscoach.net
True Sales Professionals are Born - To learn more about this author, visit Ron Finklestein's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
True Sales Professionals are Born
WRONG – Sales is like any other profession. If you are an accountant you went through years of training to receive that designation of CPA.
If you are lawyer, you went through years of training to earn the title Attorney.
If you are a computer professional, you earned your professional designations through hard work and training.
Why would learning to sell be any different?
Anyone Can Be a Great at Sales.
It is true that each of us has a certain propensity to a specific career.
But as I mentioned in my last email the sooner you realize that everyone is in sales the sooner you will be inclined to take the necessary training to improve your business, the quality of your life, and take the stress out of selling while creating more sales.
Let me tell you a true story. I recently sent out a letter to announce a new product. I received a call from a company president and this almost exactly how the conversion went.
Caller: Is this for real? (There was not introduction. He actually started the call off this way.)
Me: Is what for real?
Caller: I received this letter about Small Business Mastery….
Me: Yes, it is for real and it took me three years to develop this product.
Caller: You have five minutes to tell me about it.
I told him about the product and he agreed to buy from me. After our call, he said “sign me up.” That was the fastest $3,000 I ever made.
I used to be intimidated by people like that and I would get flustered. I now understand how this individual wanted to be treated and during that call I treated him exactly that way. It took five minutes and I got the order.
I don’t consider myself a professional sales representative. I do consider myself well schooled on understanding people and the art of questioning.
I could not do that ten years ago. I took everything personally. I treated everyone the same way and when they did not respond as I wanted them to I felt rejected.
Let me contrast this with another sales call.
This individual called for coaching. I immediately recognized his behavior style and knew this would not be a quick close. I spent time understanding his needs and what he wanted to accomplish. I took some time to write a proposal and emailed it to him. I called him every two weeks to see how he was doing and I focused on building the relationship.
Four months later, I was asked to meet with a member of the board of directors over breakfast to discuss my proposal (naturally it was quite large for the Board of Directors to get involved). In this meeting, in addition to the board member, we had the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) involved as well.
Understanding their different behavior styles I would answer their questions in a way they made it easy for them to understand. The CFO wanted to know the impact on the bottom line. The board member wanted to explore the impact on the corporate strategy and my client wanted to know how it would help him grow into the new position.
After that meeting I waited two weeks to call back. When I called I heard “when can we start?”
I know if I pushed for a close during that meeting I would have lost the opportunity.
How much was the deal worth? I put into my pocket $20K for four hours of coaching a month for 12 months. Not bad. I don’t tell you this to brag but I tell you this because I took the time to learn the skills I needed to be successful.
And you can be successful to. Sales and selling skills are learned skills and they can be acquired. They can be mastered just as a CPA masters accounting or a lawyer masters law.
Know that masters of any subject matter requires on-going learning and education. When you were in grade school, you learned to read and write by doing it. Now it is second nature to you and you don’t even think about it.
Selling can be the same way.
To Your Success,
Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
info@yourbusinesscoach.net
True Sales Professionals are Born - To learn more about this author, visit Ron Finklestein's Website.
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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