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At
my sales training seminars and workshops I ask the question
"What do you think are the top attributes of great
salespeople?" Having trained thousands of salespeople and
business owners you get certain things appearing in the list
again and again. So I've compiled a list of the most popular
and added my comments and thoughts to help you.
I
haven't listed them in any particular order (as that always
sparks a HUGE debate), but here they are...
Top Attributes of Great Salespeople -
Number 1 – Confidence
How important do you think
confidence is for a salesperson? Well I don't think I'd say
"everything", but it's pretty close. Without confidence do you
think a salesperson will struggle with aspects of their job or
role? Absolutely!
Confidence is important in a
lot of different areas of selling - Pitching, Cold Calling,
Closing, Objection Handling, even picking up the phone in the
first place, confidence is pretty much everything in sales. You
can even hear confidence in the tone of voice on the phone,
can't you?
Think back and I'm sure you
can remember the voice tone of someone who sounded confident,
and someone who sounded nervous and unsure on the phone. Which
one would you buy from?
Confidence is one of the most
important yet undervalued attributes of a great salesperson.
Think back to the last time you or one of your team was
struggling or going through a "sales slump" - where do you think
your level of confidence was at those moments? Pretty low I'd
guess.
Now I know there will be some
people reading this who might say "But Andy, how can I be
expected to stay confident when things are going really badly,
or I just don't feel like I can close anyone?"
It's the transference of
confidence to the other party that's most important. If you
walk into a prospect's office or pick up the phone to them
sounding or looking nervous, unsure and uncertain, do you think
they might pick up on that at some level? Does the situation on
the last call, or the previous day, week or month relate to the
call you're making right now - of course it doesn't!
My personal belief is that in
sales situations where you are trying to persuade the prospect
to buy products or services from you, confidence can be seen as
"trust". The prospect will be asking themselves a number of
questions when you meet them or talk to them over the phone like
"I wonder if this person and their company is any good?", "I
wonder if I can trust them and rely and them to look after my
business needs?" and "I wonder if they're going to do what they
say they're going to do?"
In most situations,
especially if you are in field sales, to the customer you are
the company! You might be the only contact or certainly the
main contact for them, so whether they buy from your company or
not is down to you! If you seem confident and capable in what
you do, then the prospect will have more confidence and trust in
you. If however you seem nervous, afraid and unsure.....
Andy's Top Tips for
Confidence
Use Previous Good
Experiences - think back to previous good sales
experiences and "re-live" those experiences before picking up
the phone or going into an important call. Top athletes call
this technique mental rehearsal or visualisation. Imagine your
mind was a "mental DVD player" and you could watch a movie of
your previous sales situations. Do you think doing this will
give you more confidence? You betcha!
Do Your Homework - especially
if you're going on an appointment, do some research about the
company you're going to see and maybe look at people you've
already helped in the same location or same sector. Mentioning
these examples will help to give you confidence and also
credibility in front of the customer.
Look At What You Do Well -
Look at testimonials your company has received in the past -
even better if they relate to the appointment you have as you
can use them in the sale. Look at testimonials that say what a
great job you and your company do. This will help to improve
your confidence in both your company and your own abilities.
Follow some of the tips above
and watch your sales soar. I look forward to hearing about your
sales success and some of your sales "learnings" - please email
your experiences to info@outstanding-results.co.uk. Remember,
go out there and sell like your life depends on it! One day it
just might...
To find out more about Andy or to discuss any
aspect of improving sales performance you can contact him on
+44 845 130 6779 or visit
www.outstanding-results.co.uk
Part 1:
Confidence
Part 2:
Self Motivation
Part 3:
Knowledge
Part 4:
Passion and Enthusiasm
Part 5:
Organising
Yourself
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