Buy what you sell. Do you sell a product or service that is used by most consumers? Then you ought to purchase what you sell. Very soon after you start selling, you'll be asked by buyers what you use. You'll be asked if you own what you sell. In every instance, your answer will either assist or harm your probability of a sale. And do not lie. There's a thousand signals you give off when you lie. And most are observable on your face and in your body language. If you're lucky, buying what you sell might even count in generating sales commissions and count for contests. If not, your brother needs one. Buy it for him and borrow it forever.
Pay attention to your sales manager. Your sales director has the understanding to save you lots of time in your learning curve. Do what she says until you understand more than she does. Her profession is to help you earn more money. So it's a win-win.
Ask to ride with an veteran representative. Make sure that this person is the most successful person in the office. A week should do it. Offer to carry stuff, buy the coffee, and guarantee to be quiet while they are selling. Nothing you add will help them in a sales presentation. The benefit you get is that you will observe that selling is not objectionable, nobody really yells at you, selling is a totally normal act, and you'll get pointers on easy methods to make sales.
Don't suggest to go with the losers who are not earning money. They can't help you and will eradicate any initiative you possess at the start. If you hear them say "Oh, that doesn't work" it's a tip off that they aren't going to be of help to you.
Don't hang around with the losers. You'll be able to spot them right away. They don't work hard, and they constantly criticize another person for their failure, typically the company. They hang out together, and will do actions all day that have zero to do with sales. The unpopular guy, the one that's continually out selling and breaking company records...that's who you consult.
Continue with the business you are with. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Why? Because you aren't looking carefully. As long as your company keeps it's promises to you, and can provide a great product or service, you will always be better off staying with that company. Legends aren't born by jumping from company to company. Reputations are killed by jumping around. The longer you stick with a company that keeps it's word, the more momentum you develop with your clients. Endurance with a company builds reliance in the mind of consumers. Starting over, every time starts with Zero. Flourish where you are planted.
Rehearse your prepared presentation. As long as the company has a planned presentation, you need to use it. Soon you'll start to understand how every part of the presentation works to construct the sale and speed up the selling process. Eventually, you may not use the company presentation. But to discard it because "It's just not me" is similar to an actor saying "Shakespeare? I'll wing it".
Use company visual aids. Company visual aids, if provided, establish a credibility in the mind of the customer. You look more solid if you have company visual aids. A presentation with visuals will keep you and the buyer on track toward the sale. It will make certain most of the prospect's questions are answered before they become objections. A company prepared presentation gives credibility to your company and to you. Sharp looking visual aids generate a sense of "Permanence" to your buyer's vision of your company. They look more "Official" than a presentation without visual aids. Not using your visual aids is like having a hammer and saying " I can put that nail in better myself" and just throwing the hammer away. Your visual aids are tools. They make your job easier.
Keep track of your sales and sales activities. Keep records of what matters to you. I used to keep records of my sales commissions. I knew where I was by the day, week, and month. I knew if I needed to work harder, or if I could take a day off. This income schedule included the sales calls and presentations. Wouldn't you like to know how much money you earn for every sales call you make, whether they buy or not? How much you earn for every hour of sales activity? Just never lie to yourself. These records are far more powerful as sales motivation than any motivational sales meeting. What you measure, you can improve.
Market to your warm market. Who else would you trust to take care of your friends and relative's needs? People want to deal with people they know and trust. Wouldn't you want to buy from someone you know? If you get referrals from relatives, even close ones, you'll very quickly be talking to people you never met.
Dispose of the Newbie Myths. These vary by industry and type of selling. In my industry (I sold in prospect's homes), the myth's were 1) They would buy later and 2) You didn't need to see both husband and wife together. I couldn't break new people of these beliefs. I just had to let them find out for themselves, and remind them after a few weeks of selling. Your industry myths may be different.
Become a selling student. I was asked once about my education. I finished high school. That's it.
Here is a reality that I like to point out. When most people graduate from high school, that means they stopped reading and studying when they were 18 years old. A college education means you stopped reading and studying when you were 22 or 24 years old. That's the main difference.
Study books about selling from people who made their fortunes selling, not books by people who think they know what selling should be like. A hundred dollars invested at amazon.com can build you a great sales library. After a year of studying your sales craft, and applying what you learn, you'll be in front of the rest of the crowd, I assure you.
Author Resource:
Small Business Marketing and Local Advertising expert Claude Whitacre is author of the book The Unfair Advantage Small Business Advertising Manual. You can purchase the book for $19.95 at http://www.claudewhitacre.com You can also download your Free copy of the complete book at http://www.local-small-business-advertising-marketing-book.com
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