When you think of a salesperson, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?
Sales has historically gotten a bad reputation. We associate it with dodgy schemes, pushy attendants or long-winded pitches about a product or service that we are ‘not interested’ in!
But the power of sales can be critical to determine the success or failure of a business.
If you are already familiar with sales, download our free toolkit to get started on your goals.
Three years ago, I would be skeptical of a salesperson and what they would have to offer, but as I get older, wiser, and achieve success with my own business and clients, I realise that sales is the key to success in both business and in life. We have to rethink the way we perceive sales because it can be a critical factor to help us grow personally and professionally.
In this post, I will outline a couple of key misunderstandings about sales and suggest recommendations to embrace sales moving forward as a skill to master.
By the end of this post, you and your business will be equipped with best practices and essential tools to scale and grow over time.
What is a Sale?
First, let’s break down what is a sale.
A sale is an exchange of one thing for another. Whether that thing is a product, service, or good, the party that it is being sold to must understand the value of what they are going to receive.
So before a salesperson can clearly detail and articulate any value to a prospect or customer, they must see the value for themselves.
The real reason that business owners don’t like sales is because they don’t truly believe in what they are selling. If you believe so strongly in what you have to offer, your passion and value will speak for itself. If you believe that you possess something that can significantly change the life of the consumer, why would making a sale be difficult?
A salesperson has to believe that if the client walks away empty-handed or without what you have to offer, they will be at a loss instead of a gain- this is huge!
The key to making a sale, is selling value. The salesperson must see the value in what they offer, twice as much as the consumer.
Just as important as it is to see value in what you’re selling, it is just as imperative to see the equity when comparing the value to the cost of the product or service. Many consumers get caught up on cost, and this is usually because the value wasn’t there to begin with or the person selling the value, didn’t believe in it enough.
For example:
If a house is valued at $1,000,000 and the cost is $500,000, then the purchase price seems good based on value. There is evidently 50% of equity. Usually the salesperson struggles to not only articulate the value, but also struggles to articulate the value to cost equity.
If you can start to see the value in selling to others and the better position that they can achieve, then you are on your way to helping people.
The reality is that we as humans are always selling to people, in some way, shape or form. When we ask for something from someone, when we negotiate with another, when we interview for a job or negotiate on a house, we are always selling, so if it’s such a required skill to succeed and win, why do we continue to let the media and other people make us look at ‘selling’ in a bad way, to the point we don’t become masters at it.
If we embrace sales was a way of life, and become great negotiators, influencers and motivators; we as business owners would not only get our way a lot more often, but we would also attract more customers and guarantee that more people would want to engage with our businesses.
Marketing and sales are the key drivers to business growth, and the more I research and understand the two growth engines, the more I realise that sales is always the common denominator that impacts and leads marketing.
Sales is the necessary skill when promoting and articulating the value to the customer. Sales is the necessary skill when motivating and encouraging your team.
Sales is the necessary skill when detailing the value that’s presented and identified in the marketing.
Overall, sales is the one thing, that I’ve learnt to implement at every level of my business and life, to provide value and create a sustainable momentum of success.
If you want more information to change your perspective on sales so that you and your team can start believing in what you’re selling and sell in the right, valuable way, get in touch with one of our advisers for a sales meeting like never before.
We also suggest downloading this free sales toolkit to help you with a sales process and sales methodology. It will help keep your team and yourself accountable, to continue to scale and grow daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly to see results that haven’t yet been achieved.
Learn the value in sales, so you can pump value into everything that you sell and ultimately, better the position of any client, to drive healthy business growth.