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Sales Masters Guild Mentor, Jo Driver, asks the question; “Do you enjoy selling? Do you enjoy being sold to?”. For a business owner the answer should be yes, but for many it’s not something they look forward to.

I don’t know about you, but whenever I’ve been in a situation in a shop where I have been greeted by a rather persuasive salesperson it makes me very uncomfortable and often I walk straight out of the shop. So no, I don’t like being sold to.

I can remember a conversation I had many years ago with a Sales Director, just before I thought about starting my first business. I actually said “I could never be in a sales role, I hate selling”, to which he replied “Jo you sell nearly every time you meet a potential client, because you take time to get to know them, identify their business requirements and find out exactly what they need and how we can best help them”. Until that conversation, I had never thought of sales in that way.

The majority of people who set up their own business say they don’t enjoy selling. They often lack confidence and feel uncomfortable in a sales environment. Unfortunately, you won’t have a business without ‘sales’ and as business owners we are all in the ‘sales’ business, we just sell different stuff.

Sales is one of the skills that, as an business owner or entrepreneur, you’ve just got to learn how to master so that it becomes an enjoyable experience for you and your prospective client. If you don’t, then you will never feel comfortable or confident in a sales environment and you’ll resist selling, so you won’t make the sales or the income you want. Money is like oxygen for business success.

No one really likes being “sold to” so learninghow to sell without appearing to be selling is critical. The only reason ‘sales’ is often perceived as an undesirable subject, is that so many do not sell in a professional way.

Selling is not about trying to persuade or convince people to buy, but helping people to get what they want, and solving their problem with the service or product you provide.

Some of the mistakes that I see many business owners make when they selling are:

(1) They spend absolutely no time getting to know the person that they’re selling to.

It is a fact that “People buy from people they like and trust” and “People like people who are like them”, so making sure you establish rapport which gains a positive connection and knowing how to communicate on the same wavelength is a great start to all negotiations.

Whenever you have a business conversation, spend time building rapport, as success in business is all about building relationships and not merely a one off transaction. Build a good relationship with a customer, make the selling process an enjoyable experience for them and you are likely to gain a long term customer who is happy to give referrals.

(2) Many deliver a well rehearsed sales pitch.

The pitch is often full of the benefits, technical details and jargonin the hope that they can convince their client that they are the expert and their client needs what they are selling.

Identifying your ideal client and putting some thought into what they need and what their pains and desires are likely to be gives you some idea of how to structure to your conversations. By doing this you will ask good quality questions which will gain you the knowledge of what is important to the client so that you can understand how you can best help them. Make the sales process more about them than you.

(3) Talking more than listening.

This is a common mistake many make, Obviously, you need to talk to ask the questions, but then shut up and really listen carefully to the answer that comes back to you before asking another question. If you’ve asked the right questions in the correct way, their answers will help you identify what it is that they really want.

So, can someone learn how to make selling an enjoyable activity? Yes, I believe it is possible, although it will mean being open to new ways of thinking, taking a different approach and maybe learning some new skills.

My highly interactive one-day Sales & Negotiation Training, delivered to business owners eager to make more sales and grow their business a number of topics are covered:

• How to quickly and effortlessly build rapport
• How to feel comfortable talking to anyone
• How to structure your business conversations
• How to find out what a customer really wants
• How to effortlessly frame your value proposition
• How to increase sales and win more business

What I notice from the people that attend this training is they come out of the workshop looking at their business from a different perspective, having gained a lot more confidence and structure to all their business conversations.

You can find out when Jo’s is holding her next Sales & Negotiation Training and can book yourself into one over on her Sales & Negotiation Training booking page.

25 way to get more customers

Jo Driver

Jo Driver is a Sales Masters Guild Personal Business Mentor

 

Jo’s transition to becoming a business entrepreneur began back in 1995, starting her own Training and Consultancy business. Jo has also built a Health & Wellness business and is a co-founding partner of JRD Property, a property investing business.

 

Find out more about Jo on her Sales Masters Guild profile page

 

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