The Sales Professional: Three Principles To Selling

When you start think about the sales process, there are three basic principles you must learn and adopt before you will become successful. The first is to be organized. You need to have information on all your clients with all their information. Your schedule for that day should be tied to a map rather than the hottest prospect. You need to make as many calls as you can and the only way you can is through organization. Like I always told my salespeople, “work smart, not hard”.

The second is to be prepared. You need to know your customer, not whether he is a Longho
fan or an Aggies supporter (although it couldn’t hurt), but whether he is the final decision maker, that he can actually use your product or perhaps they just had a big layoff so making a purchase is not a high priority. You can waste a lot of time on both sides as well as future sales opportunities by not being prepared. Also, double check that you have all your sales information with you such as brochures, supporting documentation and your business card. You will not believe how many sales calls I have made with salespeople who forgot that they gave out their last card. It is embarrassing and unprofessional.

The third is to assume the sale. Sounds simple, but too many people go into a sales meeting hoping and praying that they can make the sale. Not only do you feel the pressure, but you come across as if you were begging for the sale. I remember one salesman telling a potential customer that he was behind on his quota, so if the prospect bought his product, his boss wouldn’t get on his case. The prospect threw him because he was not going to make a decision on whether the salesperson needed the sale. Think of it this way, if you believe your product is a perfect match for this customer, so will he. If you don’t, then why should the prospect.

So before you take the prospect's time, get into the game by getting organized, prepare for the meeting and then assume the sale.

Now that you are ready mentally and physically for the call, you need to know more about the 5 basic steps in the sales process. In future articles, I will cover them in more depth. The 5 steps are:

1. The opening statement or why am I taking up your time.
2. Ask questions. The more you know, the more you close.
3. Present benefits, not features
4. Overcome the objections. What do you mean, no?
5. Close the sale. And isn’t that what it’s all about.