As children few of us dreamt about being a salesperson, but many of us now realize it is a necessary component of any job. Regardless if you are an entrepreneur or work in an organization we need to share ideas, influence outcomes and win over stakeholders. As a professional, you are good at what you do, however, if you can’t sell it, you can’t repeat it.
So lets debunk some sales perceptions, and just maybe you will realize unsales sales is the key to unlock your personal and professional potential.
The UnSalesperson Saleperson – The old myth that sales people are born is false. People who are out-going and who talk a lot are born, not sales people. Effective sales people know when to talk and know when to listen. It is the art of that ebb and flow that makes you successful in establishing long-term productive partnerships. The reality is the less of a ‘salesperson’ you are the more lucrative sales becomes.
The UnNeed Need – We don’t sell anything. People buy. More often than not, they don’t buy what they need; they buy what they want. They don’t buy because you told them it would solve a problem or a pain, but because they came to the conclusion you, your solution, or your company addresses what they want.
How they came to that conclusion is not because of the proposal you sent or the information you provided, but the conversation you created.
The UnRelationship Relationship – For years people were taught that if you have a good relationship that people will buy from you. This is not true. People will talk to you. People will listen to you, but not necessarily buy from you.
The UnProbe Probe – We all know a good sales person asks questions of your prospective client, but how many? What type? When? The reality is if your prospective client ‘feels like’ you are probing you are minimizing connection, therefore rapport. It is about creating a conversation.
The UnExpensive Expensive – Have you heard that you are too expensive lately? Are you too expensive, or is your value just not understood? You need to close the gap between your clients’ perceived value and your perceived offerings.
The UnTransaction Transaction – Your client has an event and needs services in which you can provide. Now you have a chose. Do you provide them with what they think they need, or provide them with what will achieve their objectives? The prior is a transaction; the later is a holistic sales approach. In your specialty you are the expert. We need to demonstrate our expertise confidently in every interaction.
The UnBudget Budget – (Warning, confidence required for this one). Budgets do exist and do provide limitations. As professionals we must operate in them, that is assuming we know what they are. My challenge to you is don’t ask for the budget (I can hear you now). By asking for the budget and providing a proposal it assumes that your proposal will fit in the budget. Instead try this, focus on the objective the client wants to achieve. This approach will allow the client to alter their objective if they find the cost of implementing it is too expensive. Bonus, this approach puts less pressure on you to lower your price. It is better to remove something from the deliverables than to reduce your price for those same deliverables. If you ask for a budget, clients often assume your proposal will fit in that budget and achieve the required objectives. If your proposal does fit in the budget -great, but if it doesn’t, you are now too expensive – a negative perception has been created.
The UnProcess Process – Sales is walking through stages is a myth. We don’t go through steps but rather it is dynamic and flexible and is dictated by the client after you lay the foundation for discussion.
The UnObjection Objection – Objections are traditionally barriers to closing a sale. The reality is ‘objections’ are just pieces of information that give you insight to how someone or the organization makes a buying decision. Without understanding them, technically you could not be contracted for the business. The reality is you want to solicit these pearls of wisdom on how individuals and an organization make buying decisions because only then will you have the power to influence.
If your are interested in learning more about UnSales Sales techniques, fill out the following form and we will invite you to very special introductory offer of Ignite Excellence’s UnSales Sales online training program when launched – you will receive the approx 12 modules of training for only $129US. Only offered as an introductory rate. This form will only take 90 seconds: http://igniteu.igniteexcellence.com/influential-communications-development-program-inquiry/#
Suzanne F Stevens Cultivates Conscious Contributions & Influential communications. www.suzannefstevens.com
Suzanne is an international speaker, entrepreneur, trainer, host, producer, philanthropist and Chief Edge Optimizer for Ignite Excellence Inc. Group of Initiatives. She has spoken on 5 continents and has travelled to over 60 countries. Join the conversation at https://twitter.com/SuzanneFStevens or https://www.facebook.com/SuzanneFStevens or https://www.facebook.com/IgniteExcellence
