In business we all sell, whether you sell a product or service directly to customers, sell an idea or strategy to your team mates, boss or direct reports or if you are selling yourself in an interview. We’ve have compiled our Top 5 tips to help enhance your selling skills.

TOP TIP No.1 : ATTITUDE

‘How Important is ATTITUDE?’

We have often missed the mark because we believe we set goals too high. In a moment of enthusiastic wishful thinking, we stretch just a bit too far, too tough. BUT did we? Probably not. Here’s the proof…

ATTITUDE is at the top of the Success Triangle (Attitude, Behaviour, Technique) because ATTITUDE dominates all of the other functions of success. It’s a safe bet that your performance is consistent with the way you view yourself conceptually. Your mindset, or your outlook, controls your behaviour, your use of techniques, your actions, tactics, strategies – everything that determines failure or success in your life.

You take your outlook with you no matter where you go in life. If, for example, you’re one of the top performers in your company and you resign tomorrow, wherever you go you’re going to reach the top again. You’ll get the same training as your peers, and you’ll sell the same product or service, and work from the same pool of leads, but you’ll outperform most of the others simply because of your ATTITUDE. It’s so predictable, it’s frightening! ATTITUDE determines RESULTS, good or bad.

ATTITUDE is never non-existent. It’s not like an illness which comes and goes. It’s always present. Even in our sleep, ATTITUDE can be reflected in our dreams. However, it’s when we awake in the morning that ATTITUDE shifts into gear and begins to control the rest of the day.

Top 10 Essential Strategies for Maintaining a POSITIVE ATTITUDE at Work and Home

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING, SO AVOID NEGATIVITY. It is the lens that you look through to experience your reality. Take a look at your ATTITUDE. Are you negative? Do you colour everything with fear or need? How will your life change if you change your ATTITUDE?

TREAT PEOPLE WITH KINDNESS & RESPECT. Everyone that you encounter should be valued and treated with courtesy. Acknowledge that they have feelings and their own perspective     on life; they may be different than yours but they are also valid.

AVOID COMPARISON. Constantly comparing yourself keeps the focus on the other person instead of on what you can do, want to do and are good at doing. Look inside and improve from there.

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR WORK, ACTIONS & LIFE. Don’t pass the buck. Don’t make excuses. Take responsibility; acknowledge a mistake, fix it and learn from it. Don’t beat yourself     up about the mistake or hang onto past mistakes. Resolve them, own them and move forward. TODAY.

ADOPT A THAT-DOESN’T-WORK-FOR-ME STANCE. When someone insults or belittles you, keep in mind that your worth comes from you…your being…your true self. They can’t change your     intrinsic value unless you let them. Make it clear that what they’re doing doesn’t work for you. Keep your self-confidence and continue to move forward.

RESPECT OTHER PEOPLE’S TIME & BOUNDARIES. If you are having a bad day, feeling stuck, or you are just enjoying procrastinating, make sure you don’t use that as an excuse to waste other people’s time or cross their boundaries. Time is the most valuable thing we have.

MAKE A WHAT I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED LIST. Too often, people make huge to-do lists and then beat themselves up when they have only accomplished a few things on the list. Each day, keep a specific list of all the things you did and how much time you spent on each thing. You’ll know where your day went, can feel good about what you did accomplish and see where you need to focus to get what’s most important to you done.

TAKE NOTICE OF THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU. Acknowledge what a co-worker, customer, clients, vendors and other people are contributing and don’t take them for granted. Thank them for     buying from you, for their help, their value to the relationship and for a job well done.

ENJOY THE LITTLE THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN YOUR DAY. Relish the compliments someone gave you on the insight you shared at the Team Meeting or the big smile the customer gave you when they signed for the order. By recognising your accomplishments, even if they seem small or routine you are acknowledging a job well done.

ALWAYS COME FROM A POSITIVE ATTITUDE & PERSPECTIVE & YOU WILL FEEL MORE IN CONTROL. Consider each job and interaction as your best performance, rather than just running     them together as part of your day. You will see the impact you have and the value you offer. Others will also notice your efforts and will respect you for your contributions.

TOP TIP No.2 : BELIEF or BELIEVE

They say “a good salesperson can sell anything”, well this is not true!. A good salesperson can ONLY sell anything if he or she BELIEVES in it.

‘Belief in Yourself, Your Company & Your Products’

BELIEF in the true qualities of YOURSELF, our COMPANY and our PRODUCTS is what allows you to project confidence, positive attitude that can and will lead you to success.

Identify the strengths YOU, the COMPANY and our PRODUCTS bring to the table and focus on these. Continue to reinforce your BELIEF system with positive self-talk & affirmations about the strengths you offer. It is true that your BELIEFS will be apparent to your customer.

So take a few minutes to list down the positives and strengths of YOURSELF, OUR COMPANY and OUR PRODUCTS…

A small extract from”‘Life’s Missing Instruction Manual’ – by Joe Vitale

If you’re offering a product or service you BELIEVE in, then share your excitement for it to the right audience.
(If you don’t BELIEVE in your product or service, what are you doing trying to sell it?)
Said another way, if you have something that would truly benefit a certain group of people, and you don’t tell them, aren’t you doing them a disservice?
When you share your love, your passion, your BELIEF with someone who welcomes it, more often than not, it leads to a sale, naturally, easily, effortlessly…

…so BELIEVE

TOP TIP No.3 : CLEAR GOALS

“Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbour he seeks, then any wind is the right wind”. – Seneca

‘Set Yourself Clear Goals’

There is a well-known cliche that says, “A person going nowhere normally gets there.” So if you find your desire is not as strong as it should be, it is possible you have not firmly set out CLEAR GOALS you want to achieve. Perhaps your personal motivation is lacking. Over the years I have seen numerous examples of people who appear not to have had the talent. skills or ability, yet they become outstanding successes in their own right. And the one thing they all have in common is that they are deeply motivated towards their CLEAR GOALS and objectives in life.

So here are some top tips to follow in deciding your CLEAR GOALS and building your desire and motivation.

Put aside some time to decide exactly what it is you really want to achieve. Draw up a list of everything both long and short term, both tangible and intangible from a work point of view (of course you could do the same within your personal life, in your social life and for your hobbies and pastimes). Then decide what is the first CLEAR GOAL you are going for. You must be able to achieve this CLEAR GOAL within three months. Make it too far away and your motivation will not be strong enough. Whatever you do, don’t  make this goal too high.

Many ill-formed people of success stress you must set yourself BIG GOALS and aim high. The basic premise is, of course, correct – reaching high can broaden one’s thinking. It’s sound advice but they fail to back it up by sharing one of the rules of success “Success by the inch is a cinch, but by the yard it is hard.”  If you set too big a goal you will have difficulty in believing (See Top Tip No.2) you will achieve it – and if you don’t believe it, you are making its achievement virtually impossible.

Large CLEAR GOALS are therefore best broken down into a series of realistically managable chunks. This now leads on to another of those success laws, which says, “Seeing ourselves progressing motivates us.” You will have heard on many of our courses the expression “Success breeds success.” Don’t fight these rules and laws, USE them!

It is known that the human brain is a goal-seeking mechanism, program your mind towards achieving CLEAR GOALS; give your mind and brain a chance to perform with some objectives to aim for. You will become more creative and more constructive when you aim at a firmly defined objective that you want at all costs.

Having now drawn up you list of CLEAR GOALS, set a firm date for achieving them. As mentioned the human being ALWAYS responds to deadlines (remember your student days). With that first CLEAR GOAL, make sure you have a clear and complete picture of exactly what it is you are going for. The brain and the mind must be pointed in the correct direction with a clearly defined end-result. For example, losing weight by the end of June may sound like a CLEAR GOAL for somebody putting themselves on a diet but it is not. They should state exactly what weight they want their body to be by the end of June.

Somebody who says they want to be the best salesperson that year should decide exactly what it is that makes up the best salesperson. Break the targets down into a series of monthly achievements with CLEARLY DEFINES GOAL per month.

The final top tip of CLEAR GOAL setting is to write your CLEAR GOALS down and have them readily available, Only 3% of adults have CLEAR WRITTEN GOALS. These people accomplish 5 and 10 times as much as people of equal or better education and ability. Of the 3% only 1% review those written goals daily. Be in that elite 1%!
“As you ramble through life, brother, no matter what your goal, keep your eye upon the doughnut, and not upon the hole”
–Dr. Murray Banks, quoting a menu

TOP TIP No.4: FIRST IMPRESSIONS

“It takes just a quick glance, maybe three seconds, for someone to evaluate you when you meet for the first time”. In this short time, the other person forms an opinion about you based on your appearance, your body language, your demeanour, your mannerisms, and how you are DRESSED”

‘Dress to Impress & 1st Impressions’

With every new encounter, you are evaluated and yet another person’s IMPRESSION of you is formed. These 1st IMPRESSIONS can be nearly impossible to reserve or undo, making those 1st encounters extremely important, for they set the tone for ALL the relationships that follow.

So, whether they are in your career or social life, it’s important to know how to create a good 1st IMPRESSION. Below are my top tips, not only to DRESS to IMPRESS but making those 1st IMPRESSIONS really count.

Dress to Impress

Of course physical appearance matters. The person you are meeting for the 1st TIME does not know you and your appearance is usually the first clue he or she has to go on. But it certainly does not mean you need to look like a model to create a strong and POSITIVE 1st IMPRESSION. No. The key to a good IMPRESSION is to present yourself appropriately. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and so the “picture” you 1st present says much about you to the person you are meeting. Is your appearance saying the right things to help create the right 1st IMPRESSION?

Start with the way you DRESS. What is the appropriate DRESS for the meeting or occasion? In the business setting, what is the appropriate business attire? Suit, blazer, casual? Think about your personal grooming? Clean and tidy appearance is appropriate for most business and social occasions. A good haircut or shave. Clean and tidy clothes. Neat and tidy make-up (now you know my secret!!). Make sure your grooming is appropriate and helps make you feel “the part”.

Appropriate dressing and grooming help make a good 1st IMPRESSION and also helps you feel “the part”, and so feel more calm and confident. Add all of this up and you are well on your way to creating a good 1st IMPRESSION.

A WINNING Smile!

“Smile and the world smiles too” So there’s nothing like a smile to create a good 1st IMPRESSION. A warm and confident smile will put both you and the other person at ease. So smiling is a winner when it comes to a good 1st IMPRESSION. But don’t go overboard with this – people who take this too far can seem insincere and smarmy, or can be seen to be “lightweights”.

Be Open & Confident

When it comes to making the 1st IMPRESSION, body language as well as appearance speaks much larger than words.

Use your body language to project appropriate confidence and self-assurance. Stand tall, smile (of course – it’s free of charge), make eye contact, greet with a firm handshake. All of this will help project confidence and encourage both you and the other person to feel better and be at ease. Almost everyone gets a little nervous (even me) when meeting someone for the first time, which can lead to nervous habits or sweaty palms (new starters spring to mind!). By being aware of your nervous habits, you can try to keep them in check. Controlling a nervous jitter or a nervous laugh will give you confidence and help the other person feel at ease.

Be Positive

Your attitude (see Top Tip No.1) shows through in everything you do. Project a positive attitude, even in the face of criticism or in the case of nervousness. Strive to learn from your meeting and contribute appropriately, maintaining an up-beat manner and a smile.

Be on Time

The person you are meeting for the first time is not interesting in your “good excuse” for running late. Plan to arrive a few minutes early. And allow flexibility for possible delays in traffic or taking a wrong turn. Arriving early is much better than arriving late, hands down, and is important in creating a good 1st IMPRESSION.

Finally, and getting on my soap box for three seconds (and I have been guilty of this in the past)- think about the IMPRESSION you make when you are working from one of the our offices. More and more people seem to “dress down” when working from their home-site, almost as if every day is “dress down Friday”. Surely, this is not the case, surely we want to make a GREAT IMPRESSION if only to let others know what kind of an IMPRESSION we are making when we are with your customers.

“You have just a few seconds to make a good 1st IMPRESSION and it’s almost impossible ever to change it. So it’s worth giving each new encounter your best shot. Much of what you need to do to make a good IMPRESSION is common sense. But with a little extra thought and preparation, you can hone your intuitive style and make every 1st IMPRESSION not just good but GREAT”.

TOP TIP No.5 : QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS

“The difference between ‘telling’ and ‘selling’ is ‘asking.’ As buyers become increasingly resistant to ‘aggressive’ selling, QUESTIONING & LISTENING skills have become a key difference between average performers and the top performers – so EXAMINE with WANTON CURIOSITY”

‘Examine with WANTON CURIOSITY’

Dictionary Definition of WANTON – adj : a real desire, without motive, provocation.

Today’s competitive environment requires more than good interpersonal skills. Good salespeople are made, not born. They may have the inherent interpersonal skills and the ‘will-to-win’ but that must be matched by effective structures, processes and techniques. EXAMINING with WANTON CURIOSITY has probably increased in importance more than most aspects of selling skills.

The sales force is arguably the most ‘expensive’ part of the workforce and yet is predominantly unsupervised at the point that matter most – with the customers. Skills need to be constantly refreshed and developed. As the future of the organisation often lies in the hand of sales, new salespeople must become effective quickly.

To help in your quest to becoming a XTRAORDINARY Sales Player, below are my top tips on EXAMINING with WANTON CURIOSITY

The main purpose of QUESTIONING is to confirm or discover the strongest or unique perceived organisational benefit that would accrue to the buyer from the product/service – it may be one (usually) or two (occasionally) or three (rarely) key things, which may be obvious to seller and buyer, or not obvious to either, in which case QUESTIONING & LISTENING SKILLS are critical.

QUESTIONING must also discover how best to develop the sale with the buyer/organisation – how they decide, when, people and procedures involved, competitor pressures, etc.

Good empathic QUESTIONING also builds relationships, trust and rapport – nobody wants to buy anything from a sales person who’s only interested in their own product or company – we all want to buy from somebody who gives the time and skill to interpreting and properly meeting our own personal needs. You will have prepared a list of QUESTIONS – now use it.

Use OPEN QUESTIONS to gather information – for example, QUESTIONS beginning with Who, What, Why, Where, When, How. Remember : the Rudyard Kipling rhyme: “I keep six honest serving men, They taught me all I knew; Their names are What and Why and When, And How and Where and Who…”

‘What…? and ‘how…?’ are the best words to use in OPEN QUESTIONS because they provoke thinking and responses about facts and feelings in a non-threatening way. Remember the power of the “What Else?” QUESTION.

Use ‘why?’ to find out reasons and motives beneath the initial answers given, but be very careful and sparing in using ‘why’ because the word ‘why?’ is threatening to most people – it causes the other person to feel they have to defend or justify themselves, and as such will not bring out the true situation and feelings, especially in early discussions with people when trust and rapport is at a low level

LISTEN carefully and empathically, maintain good eye-contact, understand, and show that you understand – especially understand what is meant and felt, not just what is said, particularly when you probe motives and personal aspects.

Use CLOSED QUESTIONS to qualify and confirm your interpretation – a CLOSED QUESTION is one that can be answered with a yes or no, eg., “Do you mean that when this type of merchandising can increase your sales ?”, or “Are you saying that if a new contract is not put in place by end-March then the existing one automatically renews for another year?”

When you’ve asked a QUESTION, SHUT UP! – do not interrupt. Your buyer should be doing 80-99% of the talking during this stage of the sales call; if you are talking for a third or half of the time you are not asking the right sort of QUESTIONS.

Do not jump onto an opportunity and start explaining how you can solve the problem until you have asked all your QUESTIONS and gathered all the information you need (in any event never be seen to ‘jump’ onto any issue). All the time try to find out the strategic issues affected or implicated by the product/service in question – these are where the ultimate decision-making and buying motives lie.

When you have all the information you need, acknowledge the fact and say thanks, then take a few moments to think about, discuss and summarise the key issues/requirements/priorities from your buyer’s needs/organisational perspective.

“QUESTIONING & LISTENING SKILLS have traditionally been treated by conventional sales people as a process to gather information to assist the sales person’s process, and this is how it is typically positioned in the old-style; however, modern sales methodology treats QUESTIONING in a radically different way – as an essential part of a facilitative process whose purpose is to help the buyer decide, so go EXAMINE with WANTON CURIOSITY “.

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