Sales - You’ve got it bass ackward

“I’ll invest in sales training as soon as I make the money to do so.”

I can’t even begin to count the number of times people have said this, all the while struggling to make sales. For some reason, they believe that they are going to figure out what the problem is with their sales results when they’ve been dealing with the problem for a long time.
Chances are the problem is not knowing how to have a sales conversation.
When sales are slow, people give a few standard reasons:
1. Slow economy
2. This is a tough industry
3. People are tight with their money right now.
4. People don’t buy this time of year.
5. The price is too high so I need to discount “the thing.”

Often, what entrepreneurs think is a reason is really an excuse. An excuse to hold on to their story and not do what needs to be done to change the way they do sales.
The reality is this—the right kind of training and/or mentorship can solve the lackluster sales dilemma many entrepreneurs deal with in their businesses. Yet, many entrepreneurs hold on to the belief that they will invest after they close some deals.
Did you ever consider that until you are willing to do things differently (like get trained), you might not close the business you want?
This is especially true in service-based industries, where you are asking potential clients to invest in your services. On the one hand, you are asking for someone to invest in your services and, yet on the other hand, you are not willing to invest in your own development.
An inherent flaw lies with this way of doing business. How can you expect someone to invest in what you have to offer if you won’t do the same? Energetically, there’s a major disconnect.
Another reason sales might be slow is when you don’t focus your prospecting efforts where you have the highest concentration of potential business.
Recently, I was talking with a young man who is very well known in his local market. So much, in fact, his name comes up in a very positive fashion in many conversations.
He and I were talking about what he could do to build his business. I said, “Tap into your local market.”

He was convinced he needed to do a bunch of fanc- dancy online stuff to be considered a successful marketer in his business.
“My gosh, no! You have a large group of people locally who know, like and trust you. That’s 90% of the sales conversion process.”

To say he was relieved, when he realized he could tap right into his own backyard, is an understatement.
I see this quite often. Rather than entrepreneurs mining the gold that is within arm’s reach, they think they have to chase after leads elsewhere.
The process of selling is just that—a process. A huge part of the process is determining where you have the greatest likelihood to reach the portion of your market that is interested in what you have.
From there, it’s a matter of having conversations with those people who would truly benefit from your products and services. This is where selling with integrity resides.
Integrity-selling is knowing when to say no to a prospect and when to persuade that person to make a choice that will literally change her life.
It’s also knowing how to handle objections that are fear-based and those that are fact-based. Knowing the major distinction between the two will put you light years ahead of most people who attempt to sell.
The most important thing to keep in mind with the sales process is this—no matter what your business, you are in the business of selling. And selling is simply giving someone the opportunity to make the best choice for what he says he wants.