My husband and I are serial entrepreneurs and business partners. Over the years we've launched, ran and divested numerous businesses, all of which needed something a little different to make work from the sales perspective. I don't attribute me becoming better at sales to any sort of moment of enlightenment, just trial and error and the collection of experience over years as new problems presented themselves to be solved. While I'm not sales expert, I'm an expert communicator and if I was going to point to any one thing that acts a shortcut to being great at sales that would be it.
Traditional sales strategies may be effective, but they're far from natural for most business owners. And they aren't exactly designed to build genuine connections with the people interested in your offers. Once I threw out my sales scripts and stopped trying to convince and "sell" to people, there was so much more space for genuine conversation and connection. And as we know, connection often leads to conversion! But hopping on sales calls with just anyone isn't a good strategy either. Creating value-packed content that speaks to the desired outcomes and active concerns of my ideal clients does a lot of the work of pre-qualifying people before we hop on a call. Which not only means I save myself a lot of time chatting with wrong-fit leads but also empowers my future buyers with the information they need to engage in a sales conversation in the first place!
I used to work as a sales rep for the last six years. But I always believed you must practice it a lot to get good at anything! It doesn't matter what you want to do, whether playing music or sports or even writing copy, you will get good at it if you practice hard enough. I practiced sales by talking to as many people as possible daily. I made hundreds of cold calls to strangers, asking them to buy stuff they did not need. I can't say I liked doing that, but it was better than sitting around! I also worked with big companies like Google and Nintendo, and I learned a lot by working with these big companies.
https://chinaaccesshealth.com/ is our website, Sales and BD is core of our business. How did I become good at it? Training, training and one more time training. There is always someone better than you in the industry. Listen to them, attend workshops, online seminars. They are not necessarily from your niche but get all the valuable info from them, go back to the office, sit down with your team and pick whats most relevant for you. Start with a script, get things all written down well on a piece of paper and go hit the telephone. Talk to leads, figure out what works out good what doesnt, adjust slightly the script and go reach to the next person. Eventually it will all come with practice, but foundation is always the same - TRAININGs.
Selling didn't help me generate more business or helped me generate more leads. What actually worked? Telling people my origin story and how it inspired me to offer my services. My family and I came to the US as refugees from Cambodia and I'm the 2nd oldest of 15 grandchildren. That meant navigating the world on my own most of the time and experiencing a lot of "firsts". What I know about those experiences is that they're filled with a lot of vulnerability, ambiguity, and trial & error. And some of those can be quite painful or costly. That's what inspired me center my work on career "firsts". I want to leverage my experience and skills to help first time founders and mid-career folks navigate their own career "firsts". When I started sharing this story, people got it and they felt a connection with me. That's what caused them to see that I was right career coach for them to work with. This is what accelerated the growth of business and gave me a unique brand.
In 2016, I signed up to speak at a local meet-up about SEO. Fearful of speaking in front of a crowd, I took an introductory improv class at Dad's Garage Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. That class helped me overcome my fear of speaking, and I did alright! I kept taking improv classes, joined a couple of troupes, and performed regularly until COVID hit. Not only did improv help me overcome my fear of public speaking, but it also helped me get better at sales for my company Papaya Search. It helped me get quick on my feet, say "yes and" and gain confidence in our abilities at doing SEO. It also helped me communicate more effectively without having these long sales calls that go on forever. Improv is a great skill every business person should learn!
I'm a former programmer turned entrepreneur when I had the idea for my first business, and while I knew how to manage the tech side of things I was absolutely lost on how to manage the other aspects of starting a new enterprise. I ended up having to take a crash course in sales over the internet just to make sure I had a firm idea of what I needed to do to actually bring in money and keep the lights on as we were entirely bootstrapped. The skills I learned in that course stood me in good stead on the way to our first million in revenue, so my faith in being able to build skills via select online courses is quite high. I had no background in sales and I largely learned everything I needed to get me started.
I used to work as a call agent for a home security company. I was given a script to follow, but I quickly realized that the key to making a sale was to sound like I was having a conversation with the customer, not reading from a script. I learned to ask questions and really listen to the customer's needs. I also developed a thick skin and learned how to handle rejection. I soon became one of the top salespeople in the company. Now, I use those same skills in my side business as a real estate agent. I listen to my clients and find out what they're looking for, and then I help them find the perfect home. I've even been able to help people who were previously unsuccessful in finding a home on their own. It's all about building relationships and understanding what people need.
I don't know about you, but I loathe talking to pushy salespeople just as much as I loathe reading those long-a$$ sales letters. That's why my approach to sales is NOT to sell. I guide. I advise. I seek to inform and inspire. I loathe the hard sell, which is why I champion frictionless sales experiences that educate, provide context, and guide people along the roads they’re already on.
As an introvert, I fell into sales by accident and didn't have the outgoing personality expected from a sales person. I got good at sales by differentiating myself, I was always really good at understanding technical concepts (as I had an engineering background) and got good at sales by helping my customers understand complex problems in a simple way. This is the same principles I rely on today as a business owner, make the complex simple to understand.
I was given an opportunity to lead a divisional sales organization for an early-stage financial services company - with ZERO sales experience. After accepting a role with a $0 base salary and commission only compensation package, my first step was to hire an executive sales coach. Hiring an experienced professional allowed me to learn the basics of the role, understand key philosophies of the trade, and begin to execute a strategy to grow my division. The experience with my sales coach was imperative to my success. The experience of putting myself out there and getting rejected time and time again, was priceless. Many lessons learned!
Marketing & Outreach Manager at ePassportPhoto
Answered 3 years ago
The one thing that made me great at sales was switching up my perspective and turning it upside down. At some point, I realized that I ought to think less about the product or service and more about the client. Talking with them, not at them, and working on my soft skills allowed me to improve like never before. After all, praising your product can only get you so far. If you know how to talk and connect with clients, that's something else completely.
I first knew I was good at sales when I was working at Guess in my local mall, right after high school. I always thought you had to be an extrovert to be good at sales, and I was an introvert, so I never expected to do well in sales. But one month, I made over $60,000 in sales. I made the most sales from across the country, beating people from busy city stores. It caught me by surprise. That's when I realized I had a passion for helping customers and solving their problems. It's a valuable lesson that helps me today in my e-commerce business. If you can solve your customer's problems, you'll make sales.
I quickly learned early on that hard-selling techniques are short-term and stop working. By building actual relationships with my clients and forming a friendship, I have dealt with the same individuals in business for over 20 years now in some cases. Most of the time, you are not selling and just listening or discussing general business, home life, or maybe something they are stressed with and want someone to listen. The sales may start slowly, but as your relationship grows, so will the sales.
Sales is a tough job that requires a lot of patience and determination. However, if you're willing to work hard and are willing to learn, then selling can be very profitable. Many people love their job as a salesperson. A good way to become successful at sales is to learn from the best salespeople in the world. You should also study their habits and implement those into your daily life. Existing sales manuals can also help. Keep a journal of your daily activities so you can track your performance. When starting, you'll need to first identify your target market. Before approaching any potential clients, you should spend time researching your prospective clients' needs and preferences. During the interaction, be sure to ask open-ended questions that allow the prospect to control the conversation while maintaining focus on his needs and concerns. Once an agreement has been reached, write up the details of the deal as soon as possible so you can move forward with preparing for this sale
I was always a people-person. I've always liked helping others, and it's what I did in college as well. That's why it was easy for me to get into sales. I had a friend who was going through some issues with her boyfriend and she wanted to get out of debt. She asked me if I could help her and I said yes, so we started selling credit cards. We were successful at first because we had more experience than most people and knew how to sell. Then we started to get more clients because they saw our success, but our business model changed over time: instead of just offering credit cards, we started offering things like student loans and even car loans! We were able to get new clients by offering them more than just credit cards.
Being in sales requires a good combination of IQ and EQ. Social skills are needed for you to be able to connect with clients. You do not have to be the smartest person in the room to be able to land a sale. A good amount of empathy and understanding can be the secrets to closing a deal. Practice your people skills even outside of work by taking part in networking events and joining organizations.
Reps who don't perform well tend to rely on their gut instincts. Top-performing salespeople use a tried-and-true method for converting the greatest number of leads into closed deals. Poor salespeople have a tendency to miss important details. Successful salespeople are always aware of where their deals stand, what they need to do next, and when they need to do it. Reps who aren't doing well don't assess their outcomes since they haven't been keeping track of it. Top-performing salespeople constantly monitor key performance indicators and make adjustments as needed.
People enter the sales realm because it’s a game to them - or they do it because they think they have the skills and personality for it. That’s all well and good, and many of those wind up doing well. But it wasn’t until I started selling the products and services that I believed in that things started to turn for me. What you’re selling matters. It might be the most critical reason why you start to become a great salesperson. The passion behind the sale matters a lot because customers can often sense it.
Often people think sales is based on slick talking or being quick on your feet. Sales is just as technical as other professions. It is important you have a clearly detailed sales process. Each step should have mini goals and you need to stick to your process and steps. Use similar language as well to ensure your process is consistent. That is the only way you can adjust your process as needed to maximize results. If you lose sales or complete sales and your process is different each time you will have no understanding of what is working and what is not. So, be a robot, deliver your message with passion and consistency.