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Five Attributes To Lead You To S.A.L.E.S. Success

Five Attributes To Lead You To S.A.L.E.S. Success

 

Five Attributes To Lead You To S.A.L.E.S. Success.

Salespeople need to be better now than ever.  There is still business to be had regardless of your industry but it's going to the person who has set themselves apart from the rest.  In a good way of course...

Now, more than ever, it's important for salespeople, experienced or not, to go back to basics.  I'm not talking about different techniques for questioning or closing, but your foundation or who you are as a person.

Here are five attributes and one bonus that were the foundation of my 20 years of sales success.  Attributes are like habits. They can be developed or made stronger and more effective.   To help me bring these to you, I have turned SALES into an acronym.

The first attribute, the "S" stands for Sell to Help.  Always put the others needs first.  To paraphrase Zig Ziglar: If you help your prospects get what they want, you can get more of what you want out of life.  People can usually sense a salesperson just out for a commission.  It either comes out before or after the sale.  If you are looking for the benefits of long term relationships, like repeat and referral business, selling to help is a must.  Transactional salespeople don't last long term.  How aware of your prospects needs and wants are you?  How well do you match your product or service to fill those needs of wants?

The second attribute, the "A" stands for Attitude.  That is Positive Attitude as opposed to 'Having an Attitude'. Attitude is what drives behavior.  A positive attitude leads you to thinking about your potential for success, as opposed to what could go wrong or why something won't work.

Remember -Your thoughts are the one thing in this world that you have complete control over.  And your thoughts lead to your actions which lead to your results or the success that you want. So you are in complete control over the level of success you achieve.  How is your attitude in general?  Is your sales attitude getting you the success that you want?

The next attribute, the "L" stands for Likeable or friendly.  People want to do business with people they like.  Like leads to trust.  Friendly leads to easy to do business with.  Friendly is showing an interest in others.  When you do that, people feel liked.  If a prospect likes you and trusts you, then they MAY do business with you.  Otherwise you have very little chance of earning a sale.  Are you likeable to everyone, all of the time?

The "E" stands for Enthusiastic.  Passionate.  People want to see enthusiasm.  Being enthusiastic about what you do makes it easier for your prospect to buy "you".  Enthusiastic and passionate makes it easier for a prospect to like you.  People will buy more from your enthusiasm and conviction. These are all foundational to relationships and sales.  Enthusiasm can be transferred to a prospect which increases your chances for a sale.  But remember that it needs to be real.  How enthusiastic are you every day?  What can you do to refresh your enthusiasm?

The last "S" stands for Smart or knowledgeable.  Knowledgeable leads to trust.  It leads to competence and confidence.   People want to do business with confident competent people.  Know all you can about your product or service and its possible outcomes in terms of your prospects needs, wants, concerns, or issues.  Know all that you can about building relationships and influence. It is then that you can deal from a position of resource and advisor.  That's a good place to be.  What can you learn to be more valuable to your prospects and clients?

The bonus attribute is Authentic.  You need to be who you are.  None of this can be faked.  You will always be more effective when you are yourself as opposed to trying to imitate someone else or to use a "technique".  Authenticity is using your natural talents for the right reasons and in the right way.  On a scale of 1-10, how authentic are you?  How can you be more authentic?

S.A.L.E.S.  These 5 attributes have been the cornerstone of my 20 years of success selling many different products or services.  Success leaves clues and I have provided you with your own clues to help you get where you want to be.





Five Attributes To Lead You To SALES Success - To learn more about this author, visit Howard Litwak's Website.

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Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Are 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

Linda Richardson
Linda 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

David Acheson
David 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

Dave Kurlan
Dave 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

Stephanie Robey
Stephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals.

She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com   Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences.  Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.

Read Steph's Blog
Meet Steph and Dave
Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich
- Visit Stephanie Robey's Website

John Brennan
John 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

George Ludwig
George 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

Dianne Crampton

Dianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here.

Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009.  Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010.  To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here.

- Visit Dianne Crampton's Website


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Howard Litwak
(Visit Howard's Website) Howard Litwak is the Chief Change Officer and Chief Coach of Measurable Results LLC in Clifton Park, NY. Prior to founding Measurable Results, Howard succeeded for 20 years in sales and management capacities, serving the public of the Capital District Region of New York State. His achievements include the highest levels of customer service awards, numerous top seller awards, and over 1.5 million dollars in revenue generated for a mortgage company he was with for over 6 years. He was in the top 10% of that sales force of about 180 people. Howard is a member of Toastmasters International, and leads his local club as President. He just received his first Toastmaster's designation, the Competent Communicator Award. Howard was chosen to be a Co-Chair of the Toastmasters International Fall District Conference to be held in Saratoga, NY in November, demonstrating the Senior teams' confidence in his leadership abilities. He recently competed in the best of the best in the Capital District speech contest. Howard has been successfully developing salespeople for 8 years. His coaching clients also include results in the following fields: mortgage bankers and brokers, life insurance and financial services, property management, web site design, solo entrepreneurs, and architects. Howard has spent the last 20 years on his own personal development, including studying and practicing in leadership, sales skills, human relations, goal setting and achievement, positive attitude, and effective speaking skills and facilitation techniques. Howard has consistently volunteered his time in organizations to improve results of new hires and seasoned people as a facilitator and coach, by creating and running focus groups for sales people, and as a mentor. Howard's dedication and passion for helping others create positive change in their lives- both clients and associates- made him an asset to every organization that he joined.

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