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What makes a great sales person? Well, the natural ability to sell
defnitely could not hurt. Sales people are a passionate, obviously
people oriented, motivated and energetic bunch. An entrepreneur
needs to be everything in one. And one key ingredient to molding an
entrepreneur is his/her ability is to be a good salesman. Why after all
how can run a business if you can't sell your product or service? It
obviously makes no sense whatsoever.
An entrepreneur either has to be the salesman or hire a kick ass
salesman to help him with the job. Sometimes they cannot be in a
position to dish out a big figure salary for whatever factors be it just
starting out, saving money and what not. An entrepreneur is then forced
to sell and become the top salesman for his team. Factoring their
creative knowledge and natural sales abilities would determine whether
or not the entrepreneur is a good candidate to make his sales quotas
succeed. However, if you want to run a business how can you run such
a business when you can't get people interested in your services?
Here are some sales tips from one hardworking entrepreneur to
another...
Tip 1. Be Passionate. Sales people are in nature passionate people.
From my past experience, the best sales people love what they do. They
love talking to the people, negotiating deals, the travel, and whatever
else comes with it. When you are passionate about something it shows.
When you want something badly enough you can easily attain it. A great
salesman has the knack to make a connection, to seal the deal. It's all
about reading people, their ability of people skills and their passions.
When someone is not passionate it shows. You can just tell that they
have no interest in what they are selling or whom they are dealing with.
You can notice it by their expressions, their words and their overall
dimeanor.
Tip 2. Don't be pushy. I personally, abhor pushy salespeople in
business. Good business etiquette involves being polite, well mannered
and respectable. No one likes a pesky salesman. No one wants to be
stalked, called on twenty times a day, visited at the office on surprise.
You begin to act like a telemarketer and look at what America has done
to these folk. Why they can now be banned, blocked on our caller id's by
calling directory serice. Being pushy is tacky. Being sensibly aggressive
in a polite manner is key.
Tip 3. Don't forget you are an entrepreneur. This is a tricky part. You can
still be a good salesman but never forget your main role. The role of an
entrepreneur. It is easy to get caught up and overbalanced in certain
positions for the entrepreneur. You are a multi tasker. You need to be
everything at once and as a businessperson your responsibility to be
the sole proprietor comes first. Learn to be the salesman and at the
same time don't let it all get overbalanced. You will soon find yourself
out of whack and scatterred before you know it.
Tip 4. Compete. Selling is a tough thing to do. Selling a service in a
world full of competitors will make you or break you. As an entrepreneur
you should surround yourself around successful sales professionals.
Observe them. Learn from them and learn what makes them tick. In my
experience working in a corporate environment and many a
conversation with those savvy salespeople, I've learned a lot of great
tips. A good salesman is always on top of his game. He is aware of his
competition, he is goal oriented, can communicate with people on all
levels, is a great talker, people reader and overall a competitive breed.
A lot of this should rub off on you. It takes strategic business savvy skills
and tactics to sell your service successfully. Hard work and
perserverance in the long run will take off.
Tip 5. The hungrier the better. We are all animals. A good salesman
knows what it's like to be full and what it is like to be hungry. Which one
are you? Hopefully you want to get to the level when your are
reasonably feeling full the majority of the time. But ever notice when one
is hungry, what kinds of inner drives it all can produce? Sales people
have a hungry mentality. They need to sell, based on their own working
survival it is in their nature. Entrepreneurs face the same challenges.
They are hungry in both ways. They need to sell their service to profit,
they are both hungry to achieve this and at the same time need to get
the rest of their business off the ground.
Tip 6. Personality. It's all about your personality, your attitude and your
dimeanor that comes with it. If you want to be successful in this area you
need to be well liked. If you can't pass the first impressions, which is so
true that first impressions are everlasting then you by far cannot sell your
product or service. When a company takes a liking to you they begin to
take interest. And hooking the potential client to take an interest in what
you offer is key. Naturally, thereafter you can pitch your idea, give them
your reasons and then it is up to them to make the ultimate decision.
This determines point blank either they like you and your service or they
don't. Which would you prefer? So it is always best be on top of this and
remember it's all about reading people and having stellar interpersonal
skills. This is a key factor to potentially landing a new account.
Tip 7. I know as an entrepreneur you want to just run the business. You
are thinking, I am not a salesman I am an entrepreneur and that's a big
difference. Very true indeed and their is no argument in that. But to be
successful you need to be up to par with what goes on and you can't be
ignorant to the fact that this is your business. You put all this time and
energy to make it happen and you have gotten so far. It does not hurt, in
fact it will benefit you a great deal to be knowledgeable as much as you
can on every aspect of running a business. With sales being a key factor
in determing your success of your biz, any entrepreneur can benefit on
being a kick butt salesman as well successfully running his/her own
company.
As an entrepreneur, you should research for yourself what you feel will
help you in the sales department. Evaluate yourself, your strengths and
weaknesses, gain some hands on experience working for a bit with a
company in sales if you don't have a clue, talk with other successful
sales professionals for their tips and advice, do some research on the
internet, read up on sales trends and stay true to your entrepreneurial
self at the same time. It's all for the best. In the meantime, the learning
process is a fun one. You'll find yourself discovering things about you
along the way, you will be more knowledgeable about the the art of
selling and you will eventually learn to become a sharp selling
individual. Apply this all to your business and the magic should be
working in no time.
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