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What’s your Attitude to Sales?

Written by: Mike Yates

Article Overview: One of the most common areas of challenge that I come up against time and time again when working with business owners and business groups revolves around the basics of ‘getting business through the door’ It’s no wonder then (if we have grown up with an internal belief system such as this) that many of us have a bit of an issue ‘selling’ to others... People HATE to be sold to but they LOVE to buy. It’s true. We detest people who are openly selling to us. Why? Because...

What’s your Attitude to Sales?

I love the game of sales. In fact I am fascinated by people’s traditional beliefs on sales and what it means to them. One of the most common areas of challenge that I come up against time and time again when working with business owners and business groups revolves around the basics of ‘getting business through the door’ which is an absolutely critical area of any business. This is determined by the business owner’s (and their respective teams) beliefs around the area of sales.
So here’s a question for you: What are the top three words that come to mind when I say ‘salesperson’? Yes, they’ve just popped right up there inside your head – just pause for a second right now…and write them down.
Who thought ‘pushy’, ‘arrogant’, ‘dishonest’ etc.? When I ask this question to groups of business owners, over 90% of the comments made are well…slightly on the negative side !
It’s no wonder then (if we have grown up with an internal belief system such as this) that many of us have a bit of an issue ‘selling’ to others. In fact, we try not to be all the things we believe salespeople are. So much so that we don’t make that second call back ‘just in case they think I’m being pushy’ or ‘I don’t want them to think I’m being arrogant’ or ‘I really don’t want to annoy them’. So consider this:
On average people buy after the SIXTH contact and most average sales people give up after the second or third call
Here’s another one to consider:
People HATE to be sold to but they LOVE to buy.
It’s true. We detest people who are openly selling to us. Why? Because we perceive that they’re more interested in what they are going to get out of the sale than they are about us!! (we think they’re just not listening to what WE want)
However, I personally love to watch, listen and buy from a good salesperson. A person who identifies my needs, guides me to purchase and gets me to feel great afterwards about purchasing their product. Like most of us deep down, I LOVE to buy.
So what’s the difference? A good salesperson believes passionately in their product and what it will give you. That when you purchase their product you will feel great too. It will give you something that will make your life just that little bit more exciting / easier etc.
So if a good salesperson is not openly selling to you, what are they doing?
They’re asking the right questions to help you to make a decision to buy.
That is one of the keys to great selling. Firstly build lots of Rapport. Then help your prospect make the decision to buy. Then provide lots of follow up after the sale.
Why would we provide lots of lots of follow up afterwards?
Because, on average, it is TEN times more likely that someone you have sold something to before will buy from you again in the future IF (and this is the important bit) you keep in touch.
So consider the following:
1) What is your current belief system around sales? If you have a team within your business, what about them?
2) How quickly do you ‘give up’ in the sales process? The second or the third call? What are you thinking that the prospect is thinking when you decide not to pursue the sale further?
3) Just how much do you believe in yourself and your products? Just how passionate are you?
4) Just what is your sales conversion rate from prospect to client right now?
5) What are the top three things you can do right now to improve your current sales level by 10%?
Happy Selling,

To Your Success,

Mike Yates

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Article Tags: belief system, business groups, business owner, business owners, critical area, game, good salesperson, salespeople, traditional beliefs



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