Make the First Sale to Yourself
The first sale I want you to make is to yourself.....
What do you mean Jon?,
Let me explain, you are in a role where throughout your career as a sales person you will need to continuously re-invent yourself. What I mean by that is you will need to keep developing your skills, adjusting your habits and improving your knowledge. Sell yourself on the idea of life long learning. Throw yourself into discovering all their is to know about your business, industry, products, services and above all your customers.
This must happen, Why?, because the tactics, techniques and tips you learnt when you first started selling are already being diluted. Over the years they lose there effectiveness, yesterdays solutions no longer work on today's problems. Times are a changing, and fast. It's difficult to keep up with all the changes, but you must or you miss out.
So the first sale is to buy into the idea that personal development is ongoing, for life. I have witnessed too many sales people first hand say some of the following, "I have twenty years experience you can't teach me anything" or "I'm always number one in my company, why do I need to go on a course?". The minute you think you know it all, is the slippery slope to failure. Many of these dinosaurs are now extinct, yesterday's hero's, the good old boy in the corner. Don't let that happen to you, don't allow your ghosts to convince you to join the club of mediocrity.
Start to treat selling as a hobby, let me explain what I mean, if gardening was your hobby, you love it, every day your out there, gardening. You have books on gardening, you look up gardening on the internet, you are immersed in your garden every spare minute of the day, month in month out. It gives you great pleasure. Because you love it, you read about plants, their cycles, nourishment and even lighting requirements, in fact in the neighbourhood you have become quite an expert on the subject. Now think of sales as a hobby, do you apply the same enthusiasm, energy, dedication, focus, willingness to learn that you apply to your hobby. I bet for most of you the answer is no!
Very few people take time to learn and more importantly master the art of selling. I call it an art because it's not a series' of haphazard ideas, it's a science and an art to be studied, committed too, after all it's how you earn your money. Your wallet size is in direct proportion to the level of knowledge and skills that you have. In order to earn more you must commit to learn more.
To become a top producer in the sales field, you have to devote time and attention to selling, just like you do with a hobby, only this time the only thing your growing and pruning is yourself
The first sale I want you to make is to yourself.....
What do you mean Jon?,
Let me explain, you are in a role where throughout your career as a sales person you will need to continuously re-invent yourself. What I mean by that is you will need to keep developing your skills, adjusting your habits and improving your knowledge. Sell yourself on the idea of life long learning. Throw yourself into discovering all their is to know about your business, industry, products, services and above all your customers.
This must happen, Why?, because the tactics, techniques and tips you learnt when you first started selling are already being diluted. Over the years they lose there effectiveness, yesterdays solutions no longer work on today's problems. Times are a changing, and fast. It's difficult to keep up with all the changes, but you must or you miss out.
So the first sale is to buy into the idea that personal development is ongoing, for life. I have witnessed too many sales people first hand say some of the following, "I have twenty years experience you can't teach me anything" or "I'm always number one in my company, why do I need to go on a course?". The minute you think you know it all, is the slippery slope to failure. Many of these dinosaurs are now extinct, yesterday's hero's, the good old boy in the corner. Don't let that happen to you, don't allow your ghosts to convince you to join the club of mediocrity.
Start to treat selling as a hobby, let me explain what I mean, if gardening was your hobby, you love it, every day your out there, gardening. You have books on gardening, you look up gardening on the internet, you are immersed in your garden every spare minute of the day, month in month out. It gives you great pleasure. Because you love it, you read about plants, their cycles, nourishment and even lighting requirements, in fact in the neighbourhood you have become quite an expert on the subject. Now think of sales as a hobby, do you apply the same enthusiasm, energy, dedication, focus, willingness to learn that you apply to your hobby. I bet for most of you the answer is no!
Very few people take time to learn and more importantly master the art of selling. I call it an art because it's not a series' of haphazard ideas, it's a science and an art to be studied, committed too, after all it's how you earn your money. Your wallet size is in direct proportion to the level of knowledge and skills that you have. In order to earn more you must commit to learn more.
To become a top producer in the sales field, you have to devote time and attention to selling, just like you do with a hobby, only this time the only thing your growing and pruning is yourself
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