Today is my 53rd Birthday. I take this occasion to share 33 Secrets of Selling that I have learnt over the last 33 years of hands-on experience in sales management training as its most ardent student in this world.
Game changers in my Sales Career
“Sales” is a profession. You cannot do well here if you are not able to make it your Religion! (No place for victims here)
In Sales, we love to meet “N” no of new prospects “Everyday”. While you could decide the value of “N” for yourself, you are a Cheater in Sales if N= 0.
More Sales Calls = More Sales.
More Quality Sales Calls = More Sales Value.
Your ability to ask relevant questions to the customer is Sales intelligence. Knowing all the answers to customers questions is good knowledge sales training.
The sweetest music to a salesman’s ear is when the customer says “No, I do not need your product”. This happens once you learn how to handle the “No” question as a process and not as a skill.
Every sales call is an opportunity either to sell or to learn how to sell better .
In Sales, I always select my customers. Why should I allow them to reject me?
Cross-selling is a by-product of sales. It gives an increment of 8% to my sales portfolio.
Reference Selling is my birthright as a salesman. To do this I must maintain a high Customer Satisfaction Index(CSI) score.
Sales is a science. The art of selling can only make sales better but never make it happen sales growth.
I have always tracked the evolving nature of customers demand as a salesman. Their needs are dynamic. If not tracked some other salesman caters to the evolved demand.
Complaints from the customer is a gift. It is important to learn how to handle complaints and use it as an opportunity to climb the ladder with the customer.
Up-Selling should be attempted by salesmen only once they have mastered the process of Gap Analysis of a customer.
An incoming enquiry in Sales Strategy must be tracked till the death of the prospect. God chose to send him to you because HE wants you to do business with him. It’s just that both of you are not able to figure out how to do business together right now!
Always take Birthday of a prospect on your first meeting with them. Wish them every year whether you have done business with them or not. He is bound to give you business before he goes to heaven sales training programs.
Never be contended with the sale that you completed just now. Use this opportunity to map the natural market linked to this opportunity. New prospects from the sale just completed is a nuclear fission reaction which you must enjoy in this life.
Customers never trust what salesmen say. We must carry a proof of whatever we say in the form of written and video testimonials.
All of us make mistakes. When your mistake as a salesman affects a customer, punish yourself severely so that you do not repeat this mistake ever. Your punishment should pass on as a benefit to the customer demand forecasting techniques.
Your product or service has 3 perspectives viz. Features, Advantages and Benefits, also known as FAB. Always talk Benefits with your customers. They hardly understand Features and never get convinced about the Advantage if they do not register the Benefits.
Your Sales Funnel should never have a dry pipeline. If the conduit is dry, the tap will not have water always!
The cost of acquiring customers is affordable when your customer acquisition is a combination of 35% new customers, 25% referenced customers, 8% cross-sold, customers, 40% CRM customers and 2% customer under “Others” category.
For a Salesman, life is a permanent drama where curtains never go down. You should always be ready to attack with your sales kit lead generation.
Your behaviour in public as a Salesman is very important. Everyone is always watching you. In Sales, as in life, you get what you deserve.
It is your duty to empower at least 5 new salespeople every year on the function of Sales. After all, it is my religion!
Learn to say “Sorry” in Sales even if you are not wrong. Saying sorry does not mean that you are wrong.
Learn to say “Thank you” in Sales even if it is you who is the “giver” because when you say Thank you the customer lets down his guard and allows you to sell better.
Do not allow any salesman to hoodwink any customer. Why should someone spoil the integrity of my profession and my religion?
Sales is a belief system. Experience gives us the data to support and prove certain theorems of sales in life sales consultant.
Sales happen when you don’t sell. Sales happen when you help your customers buy!
Service is the easiest and cheapest way to sell more to a customer sales process.
The existence of smiling customers in your life will always be the only reason that you do not stop smiling ever in your life.
Please put this epitaph on my body, if you happen to be amongst those who took part in my last journey: Salesman who lived by the religion of Sales!
Mr. Sanjay Singh is a Sales Coach. He mentors CEO's of SME and also consults reputed brands like ICICI, Airtel, Osborne-Lippert, Takshila, Godrej & Boyce, Grindmaster, Lemken, Cahors and many more. He is a visiting faculty at IIM Kolkota. He can be contacted at sanjay@consult4sales.com or hello@consult4sales.com or call on 9970506000