Things everyone should know about Selling

There are thousands of books out there on Selling, How to sell etc etc however, everything you need to know about selling really boils down to the following simple rules:

1. Specialise in Selling one thing and get good at it

The notion that a great salesperson can sell anything to anybody is as silly as the idea that a car mechanic can service any engine. The more you specialize in terms of product, service, and industry, the more likely you are to sell successfully.

2. Sort through the sales Leads

When you're selling, the last thing you want or need is a huge list of sales leads. You only want to spend time on prospects who will probably buy. Therefore, the tighter your target list, the more likely you'll find someone who's actually interested.

3. Do your Research

Never, ever, contact a prospect before you've checked out the person's LinkedIn profile, researched his or her company and industry, and found at least one good reason why the prospect should want to talk with you, today.

4. Talk your way in

Your initial goal is not to sell but to get into a conversation to find out if it the prospect is a potential customer. Remember, a wrong sales pitch -whether spoken, written, videoed, or whatever -is not just a waste of time; it's actually preventing a sale from ever happening.

5. Be a person not a salesperson

There's absolutely nothing wrong with selling for a living or having to sell in order to make yourself or your company successful. However, most people dislike any behavior that smacks of the showroom. Be yourself, not a clone of  your top Sales Idol.

6. Quickly qualify your prospect

When you do get into conversation, your goal is to find out whether that prospect has a need for what you're offering and the money to buy it. If not, eliminate that prospect from your list. Don't waste your time or that of the prospect's.

7. Focusing on the customer's customer

When you're assessing needs, what's most important is always what your prospect's customers need from your prospect to be successful. Your job is to help the prospect meet those needs. Your own needs, of course, are your business.

8. Adapt to a Buying process

Selling is not something that you do to a customer. It's something that you do for a customer. This means understanding how the customer buys the sort of thing you're selling and providing assistance as needed to make the purchase happen, while working upon the repeat business.

9. The Close

When you've got what you hope is a bona fide potential customer, it's hard to risk hearing a no that smashes your dream of a big sale. Nevertheless, if you don't ask for the business, or wait too long to ask for it, you're going to lose the sale anyway - timing can be everything.

10. Long term Relationships

The only way to make selling easier is to build up your database of business contacts, not just of contacts but of people whom you've personally helped become more successful. Eventually, you won't need to sell as vigorously because your friends will do your footwork for you.

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