Sales Blog with Sales Tips

When I was a little boy I used to play checkers with my twin brother. He always beat me. It made me mad. Then one day my dad observed us playing checkers and said, “Scott, you always lose because you expect to lose.”

Even though I was just seven or eight years old, his words ignited a 500-watt light bulb in my head. In my short life, I had never considered that my brother wasn’t beating me; I was beating myself.

Most Of Us Do This To Ourselves In Sales
It has been my observation, after working with hundreds of sales professionals over many years, that the majority of salespersons defeat themselves too.

What do I mean by defeat? We expect to lose the sale. We don’t see ourselves winning a sales contest. We know we’ll never be the number one salesperson in our region. We are sure our employer is not competitive in our industry. We have no faith in our sales skills. We question if our customers like us.

We’re not even confident we’re in the right career.

You’ve Undoubtedly Wrestled With Some Of These Questions
All of us deal with these kinds of doubts. It’s when an expectation of failure – or even mediocrity – becomes our modus operandi that we are in the danger zone.

There is no magic to sales success. There is no perfect personality or magical skill required either. I can tell you unequivocally that the two major differences between sales superstars and the also-rans are:

Diligence. Sales leaders keep doing the things that need to be done long after others have left work early. The last time I checked, diligence doesn’t require any kind of super power.

Planning. The big guns in sales always have a plan. They know where they’re going and how they plan to get there. You don’t need an MBA from Harvard in order to make and work a plan.

This Isn’t About Positive Thinking
Let me be clear, this sales blog post is not about the “Power of Positive Thinking.” Just thinking positive thoughts won’t make you successful. That is an enormously weak and outdated concept.

The precursor to success is always competence. Competence is created by hard work and having a clear course of action.

Sales Tips Wrap Up
You might look at the top producers in your organization and think you will never be in their position. Please, don’t take yourself out of the game.

You can be a sales superstar if you realize you already have what it takes. Tenacity and the ability to create a blueprint for success are the ingredients.

Just for the record, I started beating my brother in checkers on a regular basis soon after my dad ignited that light bulb in my head.

Further sales tips reading:
Don’t Let Confidence Be Your God, Let Fear Be Your Guide
Are You Convinced Sales Is The Right Profession For You?

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>©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

Scott Sheaffer’s New Book, “Comatose Management”
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Six Short Stories of Destructive Management Practices, Volume I
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Available in printed and Kindle edition on amazon.com
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I hate the term “salesperson.” Sounds empty to me. If we think of ourselves as a person whose primary job function is selling, then we are nothing more than a “salesperson.”

Why Being A “Salesperson” Makes Us Less Effective
The human mind is full of uncharted waters (you need to visit some of my family members if you don’t believe this). However, there are a few things about how we think – and more importantly, how our customers think – that are predictable. The following are “salesperson” behaviors that cause us to stumble.

• People resist being pushed because they are hardwired that way. Crowding and bulldozing customers causes them to instinctively resist.

• Being overly forceful and “salesy” causes us to exude a vibe of desperation. This is not a good thing. Social psychologists have shown over decades of testing that people prefer to buy from successful people, not ones who seem needy.

• When all we focus on is selling, selling, selling – we put ourselves under stress which makes us less capable sales professionals. Stress is circular. It creates feelings that are completely counterproductive. Stress causes fear, tunnel vision, disorganization. I’m amazed at the number of sales managers who think beating on sales professionals will create sustainable increases in sales.

A Metaphor
Everyone is familiar with Chinese finger traps. The harder you pull, the more they grip down on your fingers.

The harder we try, the more determined these traps seem to become.

Customers feel the same way about us. The more we “sell” them, the more they resist.

Sales Blog Antidote
The following three simple ideas will make your job as a sales professional more enjoyable, your customers more responsive and you more successful. These may seem ill fitting at first, but a great pair of jeans takes a few outings before things look and feel right.

1. Stop being “salesy.” Customers hate this. They see it coming 10 miles away. I know many salespersons who think “salesy” must work because people buy from them. No. People buy from them in spite of the “salesy” approach. Your authenticity is what customers want.

2. Instead of always asking questions, start providing answers to your customers. Giving them something they need (e.g. useful and timely information) is the best antidote to looking like a generic salesperson.

3. Provide your customers with service. I’m not talking about the services your company normally provides. I’m talking about helping your customers in ways that aren’t normally associated with salespersons. Give them referrals. Help them find suppliers for products you don’t sell. Find a new way your company can save them money (don’t worry; this will inspire them to find other things to buy from you that will eclipse any losses).

Sales Blog Wrap-Up
See yourself as more than a salesperson who is trying to maximize how much he or she can get from a customer. Turn down the sales volume and increase the “How can I help you?” volume.

Further sales blog reading:
Sales Advice: Is there a “vibe” in sales? You betcha.
Get customer cooperation by “lowering your shields”

>You can automatically receive Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer >by email< or >by RSS<.
>Follow >Scott R. Sheaffer< on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
>©2009 Scott R. Sheaffer

Scott Sheaffer’s New Book, “Comatose Management”
—
Six Short Stories of Destructive Management Practices, Volume I
—
Available in printed and Kindle edition on amazon.com
—
—

The reason our customers buy from our company is because of us. This truth tells us that sales professionals need to focus on their personal value – versus corporate value – when interacting with customers.

Corporate Value
During our initial sales training, we are drilled on our company’s corporate value propositions. These are all the things our company does that are presumably better and theoretically different from our competitors.

However, in the eyes of the customer, our competitors look more like our brothers or sisters. Our customers don’t fully appreciate all the effort our marketing department is expending in an attempt to differentiate between our company and our competitors. Companies are very limited in the number of believable value propositions they can actually come up with.

But, there is one clear differentiator we have complete control over. Our competitors can’t replicate it.  It’s one that makes all the difference. One with an endless number of possibilities.

You.

Personal Value
Faithfully towing the company line and exclusively promoting corporate value propositions causes us to miss many opportunities to stand out from the crowd. It is also much easier to differentiate ourselves through personal value instead of corporate value.

We are not restricted in the number of ways for us to personally be prominent and distinct in our industry. The principle of personal value is right under our nose and we’re not using it to our advantage.

A Simple Example Of Personal Value We Can Add Right Now
As sales professionals, we tend to fixate on all the problems our customers’ voicemail systems cause us.

How about our own voicemail and the problems it causes our customers? We can differentiate ourselves from 99% of our competitors by merely updating our voicemail on a daily basis and returning calls according to what we’ve promised in our voicemail greeting.

If we’re going to be out of the office, we must say so and let callers know when they can expect us to return their call. Most importantly, we must ensure that we return their call precisely as we’ve indicated – never make them wait more than two hours for a return call.

By updating our voicemail every morning, we look up to date, relevant and like a sales professional who is on top of things.

Sales Blog Epilogue
The example above is but one of many easy and straightforward personal differentiators that make us look proactive and professional. We are only limited by our imagination and the industry we serve when it comes to creating our own personal value propositions.

Further sales blog reading:
Our Professionalism May Be Killing Us
Value Propositions, Corporate and Personal
Quirky Sales Professionals
Your Personality is What the Customer Wants to See

>You can automatically receive Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer >by email< or >by RSS<.
>Follow >Scott R. Sheaffer< on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
>©2009 Scott R. Sheaffer

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Do you ever ask yourself if you’re really cut out to be in sales? Ironically, the number one question I receive is from individuals who are currently not in sales. They ask some variation of, “Do you think I’m cut out to be a salesperson?”

Your non-sales buddies probably ask you the same question.  Do you ask yourself the same question sometimes?

Sales is a soft science and I don’t ever want to say yes or no to that inquiry. The person asking the question could be the one out of 100 who, while breaking all sales rules, might be profoundly successful. I’ve seen it a number of times.

Sales Advice For The Undecided
Whether you’re contemplating a career as a sales professional or questioning if you should remain, the following quote will provide an answer. It’s a test. Read the words below and ask yourself, “Does this describe me?” If it doesn’t, sidestep sales as a career choice, because you will be unhappy and unfulfilled as a sales professional.  You’ll feel like an imposter.

Sales can reward nicely. However, it can be a punishing daily existence for those who don’t have it in their blood.

Sales Tips From Niccolo Machiavelli
“All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it’s impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of [laziness]. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.”
— Niccolo Machiavelli

Does This Resonate With You?
When you read these words, do they fill you with a sense of passion and motivation for action?

Do Machiavelli’s thoughts make you want to say, “That’s right!” as you read them?

Does this quote inspire you to think of personal opportunities where bold and assertive action is summarily called for?

It’s Your Decision
Not everyone is hardwired for sales. It’s okay not to follow a sales path.

I encourage you to be candid with yourself when taking the litmus test above. If you don’t pass, there is no shame. But find a career that inspires the same kind of fire in you that a sales professional finds in Machiavelli’s words above.

Further reading:

• The 10 Steps Of A Sales Professional’s Employment Life Cycle
• 4 Reasons You’re Proud To Be A Sales Professional
• Why You Want To Stay In A Sales Career

>You can automatically receive Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer >by email< or >by RSS<.
>Follow >Scott R. Sheaffer< on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
>©2009 Scott R. Sheaffer

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Are you satisfied with your sales results?
Kay Ray can show you and your team how to reach
your objectives and unlock the door to success.
thekayray.com