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By Tom Hopkins, The Builder of Sales Champions
Tom Hopkins is world-renowned as a master in the field of sales. He has taught over five million students on five continents in the last 40+ years. His teaching style is entertaining yet includes a vast amount of “how-to” strategies you can use on your very next sales call. Contact:info@tomhopkins.com or visit www.tomhopkins.com to learn more about how to sell with less effort and greater results.
Selling Myths Revealed
By Tom Hopkins, The Builder of Sales Champions
The true measure of the success of any business is the bottom line—sales minus cost of sales. That’s about as bare bones as you can get when looking at it. Managing the cost of sales is an analytical process. It’s pretty much black and white. Managing sales, however, is a different matter
While certain aspects of the selling process can be analyzed, there is always one factor in every selling situation that can cause you to toss your statistics out the window. That one factor is people. Selling is a people business and you need people skills in order to succeed. Products are not sold to businesses. Products are sold to people in those businesses who make decisions for the good of the company. That’s why it’s so critical to provide training in the area of people skills for your entire sales team.
Dispelling the ‘natural born salesperson myth’
There is no such thing as a natural born salesperson. No woman in the delivery room looked at her newborn child and said, “We’ve got a Champion salesperson here!” Everyone starts out with pretty much the same abilities. Where you go from there depends on a lot of factors. However, what you become in life boils down to the skills you master along the way.
Selling has been called both an art and a science. The title doesn’t really matter. What matters is that selling skills are there to be learned--just like the skill of riding a bicycle. It takes the desire to learn and it takes practice.
Another aspect of this myth is that in order to succeed in sales, you must have ‘the gift of gab.’ While it’s true that you must not be afraid to talk with people, it’s even more important that you learn to listen. We have been given two eyes, two ears and one mouth. They should be used in that proportion. Learn to listen and observe twice as much as you talk, and you will succeed in sales.
Introvert vs. Extrovert in Sales
It doesn’t matter what your current disposition is. Both introverts and extroverts can do well in sales. The major difference between the two types of people is that extroverts tend to be interesting while introverts are more interested.
There’s a story told in Dale Carnegie’s book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, about a man who was invited to a party where he only knew the hosts. During the evening, he mingled with many of the other attendees. Afterward, the guests commented to the hosts on what a wonderful person this new guest was. When asked what they found so interesting about him, the guests realized they hadn’t learned much about him at all. He had made them feel important by getting them to talk about themselves. He was interested.
The interesting person tends to entertain others. The interested person lets others do the talking. The lesson to learn from this is that you can benefit from a little of each disposition. In sales, you want what you say to have an impact and in some cases to achieve that impact requires a bit of entertaining. However, if you keep your focus on asking questions about the clients’ needs, what they like about what they’ve seen so far, what they’d like to know more about, and so on, they’ll end up telling you just what they want to own.
Learning to Sell
Learning to sell isn’t difficult. You already sell yourself every day to your loved ones and acquaintances. You sell others in your circle on where to have lunch, what movie to see, and how to spend your recreation time. If you have influence over children, you are selling your values to them all the time.
Becoming a successful professional at selling takes little more effort than it took you to learn to live by the Golden Rule. In selling, rather than treating people as you would like to have them treat you, treat people as they want to be treated. Every action, gesture, and word should tell them that you are there to serve their needs. You’re not the stereotypical salesperson who is only out to get their money. With an attitude of servitude your business will grow exponentially.
While certain aspects of the selling process can be analyzed, there is always one factor in every selling situation that can cause you to toss your statistics out the window. That one factor is people. Selling is a people business and you need people skills in order to succeed. Products are not sold to businesses. Products are sold to people in those businesses who make decisions for the good of the company. That’s why it’s so critical to provide training in the area of people skills for your entire sales team.
Dispelling the ‘natural born salesperson myth’
There is no such thing as a natural born salesperson. No woman in the delivery room looked at her newborn child and said, “We’ve got a Champion salesperson here!” Everyone starts out with pretty much the same abilities. Where you go from there depends on a lot of factors. However, what you become in life boils down to the skills you master along the way.
Selling has been called both an art and a science. The title doesn’t really matter. What matters is that selling skills are there to be learned--just like the skill of riding a bicycle. It takes the desire to learn and it takes practice.
Another aspect of this myth is that in order to succeed in sales, you must have ‘the gift of gab.’ While it’s true that you must not be afraid to talk with people, it’s even more important that you learn to listen. We have been given two eyes, two ears and one mouth. They should be used in that proportion. Learn to listen and observe twice as much as you talk, and you will succeed in sales.
Introvert vs. Extrovert in Sales
It doesn’t matter what your current disposition is. Both introverts and extroverts can do well in sales. The major difference between the two types of people is that extroverts tend to be interesting while introverts are more interested.
There’s a story told in Dale Carnegie’s book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, about a man who was invited to a party where he only knew the hosts. During the evening, he mingled with many of the other attendees. Afterward, the guests commented to the hosts on what a wonderful person this new guest was. When asked what they found so interesting about him, the guests realized they hadn’t learned much about him at all. He had made them feel important by getting them to talk about themselves. He was interested.
The interesting person tends to entertain others. The interested person lets others do the talking. The lesson to learn from this is that you can benefit from a little of each disposition. In sales, you want what you say to have an impact and in some cases to achieve that impact requires a bit of entertaining. However, if you keep your focus on asking questions about the clients’ needs, what they like about what they’ve seen so far, what they’d like to know more about, and so on, they’ll end up telling you just what they want to own.
Learning to Sell
Learning to sell isn’t difficult. You already sell yourself every day to your loved ones and acquaintances. You sell others in your circle on where to have lunch, what movie to see, and how to spend your recreation time. If you have influence over children, you are selling your values to them all the time.
Becoming a successful professional at selling takes little more effort than it took you to learn to live by the Golden Rule. In selling, rather than treating people as you would like to have them treat you, treat people as they want to be treated. Every action, gesture, and word should tell them that you are there to serve their needs. You’re not the stereotypical salesperson who is only out to get their money. With an attitude of servitude your business will grow exponentially.
Tom Hopkins is world-renowned as a master in the field of sales. He has taught over five million students on five continents in the last 40+ years. His teaching style is entertaining yet includes a vast amount of “how-to” strategies you can use on your very next sales call. Contact:info@tomhopkins.com or visit www.tomhopkins.com to learn more about how to sell with less effort and greater results.
Listen and be guided. Believe in yourself. We will discuss it in our AM talk
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