Selling is one of the hardest things to do in anyones career. The ability to sell yourself can help you do some much with your career and take you to so many places in your life. The act of actually selling yourself goes so much farther than just selling products or services for companies. Being able to sell can change your life and it has done just that for me and my career so far.
By selling and marketing myself, several opportunities and doors have opened up for me in my life. My confidence in myself has been increased since taking the ability to sell myself seriously, my attitude toward my job has changed and I am more motivated then ever to give suggestions and provide recommendations to help my current company grow!
Being the first of April, we are welcomed with a new month that will allow us all to explore and execute on new sales strategies and negotiation tactics that can have a massive impact on the lives of people around you!
In this post, we will be focusing on the necessary skills that I have seen from marketers, millionaires, and moguls that can help you strengthen your ability to sell yourself and the products or services that you are required to sell. This post will give you 10 skills and 10 different examples of popular figures who have used this same skill to scale their business, create exceptional companies and sell themselves online. Throughout this post, I will personally be giving you my experience in using each of these skills and provide a personal account of the events and experiences that have truly helped me become a passionate salesperson within the marketing industry.
(Hope that someone receives some value from this post and prepare themselves to win in any country!)
Emphasize Organizational Skills
Being organized and keeping myself up-to-date on current events, publications and etc, is huge and has helped me within all the sales roles that I have done in my career. For me, the biggest benefit to organizational skills is the ability for you to stop forgetting different task and actually keeping yourself in the know of everything that is going on in your industry. It is important for someone who is looking to sell any product on the market that they try their best to truly keep themselves organized.
In my first sales position at Bell, I was not the most organized and my numbers took a nose dive in the first year of me working at this establishment. For me, I found that trying my best to actually stay up to date on returning customers helped me because customers were so happy and more likely to buy from you when they came into the store for the second time. This is just one benefit that I have noticed.
One popular figure that has done this well is Elon Musk. He has been able to keep his companies going through his relentless organizational abilities. He values organization, he uses devices and people to stay on track of his day. This has made him one of the most richest individuals on the planet.
Discipline Yourself
This has to do with disciplining yourself when it comes to networking, finding new people to meet in a new country, or selling different products. One way I do this is through my phone, I take the time to actually schedule times to actually focus on a task. You can do the same thing. Take the time to actually time yourself for 1 hour and see how many things you can get done. Maybe it can be updating your sales life cycle in Hubspot like me, or maybe it might be just focusing on a certain task. Take time and stay disciplined with it.
I know a popular investor by the name of Warren Buffet, does anyone know of him? Of course you do. He has created a fortune from the use of staying disciplined in his approach and discipled in his mindset too. Think about it. He always tried his best to stay focused and patient when it came to his investing. He is an important man for anyone who is looking to use discipline to actually take their careers to the next level.
Know The Background Of The Objections
Recently, I had a call with someone who has had his business for over 40 years. It has remained in the family for so long and it has now become more than just a shop for them, it is the family heirloom. Due to this connection it can sometimes be hard to build relationships with different salespeople like me who are trying to sell services. For me, this can lead to objections down the line if you do not show that you care about those 40 years and about this being more than just a shop. You need to know the background behind the prospect to know that objection.
Several sales people can’t decipher when this person is rejecting my offer now and its because you never took the time to know the background of your clients situation. Who are they? What is their role in all this? I find it is so important to actually get to that background of the client. Sometimes this person could be going through more then you know so you have to show you care.
One person that I think does this well is Simon Sinek. He is from the popular ted talk about WHY? He says that the biggest thing with these leaders is there why behind their decisions. I would say that sometimes that WHY can change everything within your prospect and with you!
Problem Solve And Find Solutions
This is an easy one. Well it is an easy one to say but not to do. When it comes to solving problems you want to know your customer and know who they are. Finding sales solutions for your company can be a huge benefit to you. People get promotions when they finally take the time to actually solve those problems. For me, one of the biggest problems for smaller companies is expanding into new markets and being able to use the same selling tactics that you used in one area in the next one. Yes, sometimes this may work but I find that when you optimize your approach you can see bigger returns. Expanding into another market could mean new cultures, languages, and customs. To become a global brand, it is important to figure out the people that you are reaching out to and understand them for who they might be.
One person that knows this well is Jeff Bezos. He expanded into tons of places across the globe and he had to understand the way people did business in these new places. He did this with a relentless effort in researching and then expanding accordingly. Amazon is the biggest brand of them all and they will continue to be long into the future because they continue to research and expand into some of the best markets on the planet. A true trailblazer and company that will last the test of time.
Be Human
For me, this might be the best one, be human online people! We are all stuck in covid now and who knows when it will be done but now you have the chance to truly be human and create more personalized selling for you and your customers. I find when it comes to selling, people love personalized or messages that take the time to segment certain business. Be a person that actually wants to be human with someone and actually wants to provide value to someones life. This can help you gain revenue and better ROI in the future.
For me, this has helped me throughout my career. I have seen some people book meetings with a message that was human and personalized to them. They were able to truly gravitate toward what I had to say and they were happy that I took the time to write to them. People love emails, you just have to watch for great titles and great email templates. This can change your open rates, your meeting rates, click rates and everything in between. I will write another blog post about this but essentially people buy on emotion you have to be able to write to them in a way that they can understand and take to heart!
One person that does this well is Tony Robbins. How can you not say Tony isn’t human? He tries his best to truly make people feel great and they love him for it. This allows him to meet and great way more people and have such a long career so far. People love positive and human discussions, whether it is online or offline.
Everything Can Be Negotiated
Once you realize everything can be negotiated, you start thinking about your selling journey differently. I just realized I can fight bank fees and it has been paying dividends. To focus on sales, I would say to persuade someone to buy, you have to be a good negotiator.
I saw this the most when I was working for O2E Brands. They had such an awesome training session and group of motivated people. I learned that when customers see that you are genuinely negotiating with them and you are trying your best to make deals, they appreciate it. They want to hear you out and they honestly listen when you have something to say.
In one situation, there was a lady on the phone that was not interested in the price of our home services, I asked her why and of course she said it was too high. I then proceeded to pin point that objection and tell her about the value we provide, I wasn’t super focused on giving discounts or anything, my main focus was qualifying her on our products and giving her the best possible service that she truly needed in her life. Negotiation made that sale happen.
Christopher Voss is who I think about when I speak about negotiation. He is a popular retired FBI agent that wrote one of the best books called Never Split The Difference, the reason this was so special was because he gave information about how he himself interacted in stressful situations and how he performed and how you can do the same! Buy the book here on Amazon if you would like.
Entrepreneurial Mindset
This is something that I feel a lot of people neglect when it comes to sales. Having that entrepreneurial drive can lead you and your team to more great returns down the line. It is that person that truly is willing to work overtime and that person that knows it will be hard but takes the chance anyway. I think when it comes to being an entrepreneur, you need to be able to take the necessary risk to see success down the line.
This is how I look at sales, no matter where I go in the world, I will push myself and look for more ways to have success at what I do in sales. It takes a person who is not afraid to ask the hard questions and to do the things that are hard for you because you know it may lead to rewards. Take the necessary risk of calling that extra person in the day after you have been rejected 10 times in a row. Leave a voicemail, do the necessary things that are going to make you a better sales manager or person.
There are tons of people in history who have done this exact same thing. Push themselves. I would like to say that persons like Brian Chesky and Joe Gabbia and Nathan Blecharczyk are three people who come to mind when I think about entrepreneurial minds. They are the creators of Airbnb and they become the creators after being rejected, living on couches and being persistent to get Airbnb off the ground! (Sponsor my podcast now Airbnb, I will be waiting)
Time Management
If you are not using good time management then you are probably not doing it right, Time management has to be one of those things you put on the wall when you wake up. One thing I do to use better time management is actually using sticky notes in the morning to actually remember to do things and using them to complete task on time. I also use momentum software because it reminds you to do things that you may sometimes forget to do down the line. Lastly, I use my calendar in my phone so I stay organized and know the time I have to complete a new task.
I do not know about everyone else out there but when I am on a call, I am looking at the time I take on it because I know time can equate to money. You have to be vigilante as to the task you take and the people and relationships you make with someone. Sitting down and watching videos takes away from actually discussing something more but yes I know breaks are valuable so let’s make time for that too!
I guess the president needs to take time management seriously. Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau need to be able to take time management into account because it can mean the difference for them when it comes to almost anything. They need to be constantly be worried about time because they know that time is money even when you have one of the most important jobs out there.
Make A Plan
Make a plan for your day and stick to it. Want to make 30 calls today with some warm leads? Get it done and then move on to something else. Want to spend more time researching publications, articles and etc. Make a plan for setting a certain amount of time for that and move from there. So as you can see the idea of making a plan and sticking to it can change a lot for you.
Read my past post about my plans in Spain:
I have always been one to take the time to plan out my day and find new ways of actually getting more done with my day. I find when you have a plan for the day you can have a plan for your life too and your sales approach.
One person that plans well is Richard Bronson. He is a great person who built an empire for Virgin by seeing and planning his vision for the company. I think he is a good person and role model because he was able to make something through the use of careful planning and knowledge of his industry. He had to sell his vision and that is why he is successful.
Be Passionate About It
Know the industry you want to work in and work like hell to get where you want to be in that industry. I find that is such a great approach for someone who wants to work in sales because it is so true. If you do not have a passion for sales or the industry you are working in, then you are not going to do well at it. If you are not passionate about something then you will not take the time to get better at it.
For me, I love property so I made podcast to talk more about it. I love marketing so I made this blog about it. I love sales too so I work for a company that sells digital marketing to people across North America. You can do well in any industry if you love to sell the products and services offered.
This being said, you can go into a industry and learn to love it. So I think at a certain point, the people who exceed sales targets are the ones that take the time to do better and usually the ones that take the time to do better are the ones that like certain aspects of the job. Whether that is the money or the actually industry, there is something in there that is driving you and for me, I would call that passion.
I do not know someone out there that would not endorse passion. One of the people that has a lot of it would be Mr. Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg. He had a passion for his vision and he now continues to sell it in the minds of his consumers. He created one of the most massive companies in the world with 3 billion users and that comes with a hint of passion.
Conclusion
Being a good sales person takes a lot of time and effort. You will grind and you will see the rewards if you take the time to actually want it! I feel there are a lot of people out there that work in sales and there are a lot of salespersons that hate their jobs. You have to find and have certain skills to be successful in this industry.
When I think about starting my day as a salesperson, I think of a Rocky movie (Any of them). They all have the same sequences, conflict than a rocky montage, someone passes out, he gets in the ring and wins (usually). You are going to get in the ring and close your deals one day but it is all about getting through all those hard losses, rejections and obstacles that you need to get through to get to that pinnacle!
Read more about sales and my life below:
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