If you ask someone what it takes to be a salesman they will usually tell you that you need to be good at talking, think fast and be great at adapting to new situations.
If you don't have that ability, does it mean you can't be in sales?
You can and you should be!
Any business skill can be learned and sales is all about styles. If you don't fit the cliche profile you will just have to work a bit differently.
It just takes that you put in the time and energy it takes.
Here is a list of 5 things you can do to become a successful salesman no matter what your personality.
1. Work harder than everyone else put together.
Hard work will get you far no matter who you are and what you are trying to do. If you work harder than everyone else it doesn't matter if you have no talent. If you talk and meet enough customers you will eventually meet someone that is in such a need of your services that they will buy no matter how poor your sales technique is.
Often you can meet customers that actually know about your product or service and were actually thinking of buying it and you just happen to be at the right place at the right time.
Work harder than everyone else and you will get more freebies than everyone else.
2. Have more enthusiasm and energy than anyone else.
The best way to sell is by making people feel happy, relaxed and in a good mood. When they have that mindset they are prepared to buy from you. If you don't have a real talent with people just be enthusiastic, happy and smile, it rubs off and soon your customers will feel the same way.
3. Use scripts for the presentation and the arguments.
If you aren't good at thinking off your feet, make sure you never have to. Get scripts for your presentations and learn them by heart. Get a script for your needs analysis, for answering objections and for asking for the order. Learn them all by heart and whenever a customer says something you will know what to say, not because you thought of it, but because you remember what you have practiced.
4. Keep asking for the order.
Most salesmen use trial closes, more on trial closes in the series "selling in steps" the article will be published during august 2010, and ask leading questions. This can be difficult and it can be very hard to time the actual close attempt to the right moment. Instead if you are unsure, just keep asking for the order. Plan before hand at what parts of your presentation and after with objections you will ask for the order and just keep nagging until they give in.
5. Show that you care.
Because you won't be using the fast rap sales talk of the "good" salesmen often customers start to trust you more. Use this, show that you care about them and their well being and keep coming back with new alternatives that can help their business.
I consider these 5 things the easiest and most effective ways for anyone to become a successful salesman.
Try one, two or all of them out and see how they work for you.
