The highly effective business salesperson
The qualities required for success in one-on-one sales are also those needed for selling to business. However, in selling to business a set of additional factors needs to be considered. At a personal level, highly effective business salespeople need more patience. They reflect this through a quiet and courteous persistence. At a professional level they also need:
- a thorough knowledge of their competitors’ products
- a general knowledge of the fundamentals of running a business
- an understanding of the market in which they operate
- a good knowledge of their client’s industry and of the general state of that industry
- knowledge of their client's business and where it fits into the industry
- depending on the product, a good general knowledge of the economy and of the economic conditions in the countries in which their clients operate (e.g. where clients import raw materials or component parts, currency fluctuations need to be considered because they can affect the client’s cashflow and, hence, their ability to purchase new products)
- where the product is technical one, such as mining equipment or computers, to be highly effective might require a university degree and experience in the specific industry.
Regardless of the type of business you approach, unless your product is a simple one (e.g. a small advertisement in a local publication, a stationery delivery service, a courier service) then almost invariably completing the sale will involve a multistep process.
Nevertheless the objective of business is to make money. Any salesperson who can show how their product or service ca help a business make more money though increased sales or productivity, or by reducing costs, will always obtain a ready hearing.
Knowing the business set-up
To the salesperson who has been in business, the word itself can conjure many preconceptions. How many people automatically assume that because someone has a business they must be ‘doing well’ or ‘be well off?’ The truth is that most small business (one to ten employees) earn little more for the owners than they could receive if they were working for someone else.
Even where they earn considerably more, they have to put in many more hours, risk debt, and live with much more stress than does the person who is comfortably ensconced in a secure, well-paid job. The majority of small business do not survive their first three years. As for larger companies, many of them need to service large debts to keep their business operating.
The point is that few business, large or small, have pools of cash just lying around to apply to your product or service. Often their resources are fully committed and a budget for the coming year already determined. Moreover, in selling to business, particularly to large corporations, what you are trying to do is to convince them to reallocate otherwise committed funds to your proposal.
How does this knowledge help the highly effective salesperson? Even a passing knowledge of how business arrange their yearly cashflow can make the difference between a purchase now rather than next year.
For large expenditures it could be better to approach business in January or early in February because their budget planning for the following financial year often starts in March, and you want them to allocate funds to the purchase of your product or service in the coming budget. (note that some companies vary their financial year.)
In any case, as a professional salesperson , your planning is long term, and so you would not be discouraged by a genuine post-ponement of a purchasing decision. On the other hand you need to provide for your present needs and to meet your expenses, and so completing sales is essential.
A secret of highly effective business salespeople is that they strike a balance between their short-term needs and their long-term aims through preparation and planning.
Building your own sales business
There are many people who have build a thriving sales business and who are enjoying the rewards of their achievement. And why shouldn’t they? The independence and satisfaction that comes from building your own enterprise are rewards indeed.
To build anything worthwhile takes time and effort. When next you catch yourself admiring successful businesspeople, ask your self: ‘How long did it take them to get there? How much hard work did they have to put in? What obstacles did they overcome? How many times did they feel like giving up; yet persisted and won?’ Anyone seeking professional advice before starting a business might be told: ’Make sure you have enough capital’; ‘Write a business plan’; ‘If you can, it’s best not to draw personal income in the first year’.
Highly effective salespeople establish a realistic time goal of three or more year to build a business that will provide achievement, satisfaction, high personal reward and high level of financial security.
In many direct selling industries, such as insurance, most experts agree that your business is not really established until you have 500 clients. Once you achieve that you can work and prosper almost exclusively with client service and recommendations. How quickly you achieve it (or your own target) is directly influenced by how hard and well you are willing to work. In other words, how strong are you as a leader of self?
Building a thriving business in sales requires the same effort as building a thriving business anywhere else. It takes time to learn the job, to stop making routine mistakes, to know your own sales strengths and weaknesses and, where necessary, to correct them. Be reasonable with time and with yourself.
Your personal mission
Adopting a personal mission will give you a sense of purpose. It will clarify your reason and method and guide you in working to achieve Sales and Personal Excellence. Your personal mission statement could be as simple as
My mission is to help as many business as I can to enjoy the security of their premises. I will achieve this in an honest, caring way, providing the best possible service. I believe my main asset to be my integrity (Personal Excellence) and consider any week where I do not help at least two new people to own and enjoy the benefits of my services, a waste of affort.
Why not base it on Personal Excellence? Let it be your compass in a demanding world.
Your specific major Life Goal
Many salespeople fail simply because they have no idea where they want to go, or what they they want to do with their life. They know they want to earn lots of money, but have no clear idea of their purpose. The result? A career of ups and downs, feast and famines, detours and frustration
Generally, the same thing can be said about most people, whether or not they are in the profession of selling. However most people are comfortable in more or less secure jobs. In selling you make your own security through the result you produce. Consequently you are always under pressure to ferform at your best. That is why is so vital to determine a specific Major Life Goal.
When you analyse it, having a specific Major Life Goal makes perfect sense. After all, you wouldn’t build a road, a boat or a house without a blueprint, so why would anyone want to build a life with-out a plan? Yet the majority of people try to do just that, and fail. They retire at the mercy of an age pension without other means of support.
Highly effective salespeople know what they want, where they want to go and how to get there. And it shows. It influences prospective clients to buy from them because that knowledge produces self-assurance and confidence, which are infectious.
Simply as yourself two questions:
- By the time I retire, what do I want to have achieved? That will be your Major Life Goal.
- How can I develop highly effective skills in selling so that my profession will be the vehicle to achieving my Major Life Foal?
When you have the answers, you too will know what you want and how to get it. You will also have empowered yourself to achieve a higher degree of personal success through the power of purpose. Life’s ups and downs will not better you against the reefs of occasional problems. You will know your course and will not allow anyone that will help quarantee your success in the profession of selling.
(Throughout this book I will be referring to your Major Life Goal and to other personal success issues because your personal success is what we both want. However to do this I will need to assume that we both ‘on the same wavelength’. Although not essential, it will be an enormous help to you if you have already read You Can Sell Anything’s companion book You Can Succeed Anywhere, also published by Business & Professional Publishing. A Major Life Goal, as well as success in the seven spheres of life and the skill needed to acquire it, are discussed fully in that book.)
The challenge of a career in sales
The ability to lead yourself means having the ability to self-discipline, to reward yourself. It takes you out of the passenger seat and places you right behind the wheel.
Through the perspective of Self-leadership a whole new world opens. You needn’t wait to be prodded or cajoled – to be forced or threatened. The challenge of a career in sales is a challenge for you to accept responsibility for your own life and, having done so, to fulfil the promise of a wonderful future.
KEY POINTS
- Selling recognizes no borders, imposes few limits on income and rewards those who help other people best.
- Qualities required to succeed in sales are empathy, drive, efficiency, good study habits, discipline and Self-leadership.
- Your first task is to win your client’s trust and confidence. You need to discover your client’s ideas and wants, and then help fulfil them with your products or services.
- The five reasons people don’t buy are: no trust, no need, no help, no hurry and no money.
- You can control the sales process, but not the client’s final decision. So it makes sense to put all your energies and effort into the steps that can lead to a client’s decision to buy.
- Selling is blend of ideas and action. Its dynamics are believing, caring, asking, listening, showing, helping and servicing, and providing for your client's needs and wants.
- If you want to succeed, you will need to practise your skills.
- The ‘p’ factor (personality) can play a major part in the client’s decision to purchase. Recognize your main personality trait and that of your client, than adapt to be compatible.
- Strive to emulate the professional traits of highly effective salespeople and adopt as many of those as you can. Be enthusiastic, warm, happy and self-motivated.
- Selling to business requires additional skills and knowledge. Above all it takes a long-term view, patience and quiet persistence. To succeed, these must be cemented by effective and frequent after-sales service.
- Be reasonable with time. You need to look at building a sales business over a period of three to five years. There is no such thing as on overnight success.
- Write a personal mission statement. Let it guide you on how you will work towards your Major Life Goal. Let it give you the power of purpose.
- Determine the challenge for you in a sales career, then focus on that to keep motivated.
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Note: All I had write in my blog with title, "the science of selling" is taken from the book :
" You Can Sell anything" - Your personal guide to the system and strategies of highly effective salespeople. Author : Tony Iozzi. Published 1995.
If you want to know more about this book, I reccomend you to buy this book. It's very great!
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