Selling is an art form, or rather it is an on-going process of fostering relationships. Mastering how you develop and extract value from these relationships is what makes you a sales superstar.
Sales Super Stars develop solid relationships with people, who have a need or challenge, you can solve, by supplying them with the product or service you offer. Selling is most certainly never about telling or a single event. It is a process, which develops daily over time, never in a day. This is achieved by fostering mutually beneficial relationships with people, who you view as partners.
When you view your clients or prospects as partners or potential partners, your approach to them and the way you will interact with them is very different to a traditional salesperson. This is unlike traditional sales where you’re sitting opposite a “BUYER” with their feet braced against the desk, desperate to make a sale at all costs. It is about building value-adding relationships.
A Different Sales Approach.
The sales professional, who approaches every client or prospect, with a view to forming a mutually beneficial partnership with them, will be constantly looking for ways to add value to their partner.
Anyone who is entering a partnership with someone else is always looking for ways to foster good relationships, to support them and to build trust with them. You can never be authentic and foster the meaningful relationships you need if you do not believe 100 % in your product or service. You will be very quickly found out. If you try to sell something you do not completely support or believe in yourself, the people you are selling too will soon find out.
Understand Customer Buying Behaviors
As you know your new partners will only buy from people they know, like and trust. Partners buy from people they believe is adding real and meaningful value to them or their business.
When your intentions are not honourable and you try to pretend that you have your clients and prospects best interests at heart, but in fact, you are only there to try to close a sale. You will be found out. We have an inherent ability to read peoples body language. The tone and pitch of voice and the cadence and volume of speech gives it away. Your client will very quickly see through any facade or false intentions.
ONE: Plan your Sales Calls
Just like anything in life, you need to plan every sales call or relationship-building process, before the meeting. Yes, you can wing it and walk into the meeting unprepared, and in some cases may even get away with a lack of preparation.
Attempting to go into a sales meeting with your client or partner unprepared, is like allowing yourself to be a paper cup blowing around with no direction in a car park. You will just get shunted around in the meeting at the whim of your client or partner. They will be in control and you will be in a weakened position, where you will be forced to tell to try to sell. Have a clear intention or purpose for every sales call.
TWO: Change the Way You Look at Your Clients
If you want anything in your world to change in an instant, then simply change the way you look at it and it will immediately change. As soon as you are able to make the shift in your mind, away from viewing yourself as a salesperson. Instead of seeing yourself as a “salesperson” who desperately needs to sell your wares, view yourself as a value add. Someone who has a fantastic product or service. A service or product which can be included in someone’s life or business, to remove a challenge they currently face. And the value that is designed to satisfy a need they may have. With this kind of thinking, you equip yourself to become a relationship and partnership builder.
THREE: Partner with your clients
Approach every client or prospect with a mind-set of let’s go do it, rather than I am here to sell you something, now you go do it. See the relationship you are developing, as a way of doing something with and for your client or partner.
As soon as you change your philosophy and truly believe in what you are selling, you become a partner to your clients. You must authentically believe, that your product and service is a real value add within your partner’s life or business. Once that has happened, you are ready to start the journey to become a relationship builder and partnership developer. Your intent will always be crystal clear when you work with any client. They will see right through any facade you may try to create.
When you are authentic and you always act with your clients or partners best interests at heart, you will build long term relationships with people who will get to know, like and trust you and obviously buy from you.
Becoming a Successful Sales Superstar
Dare to explore the limits of your potential and awaken your full sales potential. It is time to up your game and to set your sales giant free. Unlock your hidden sales superstar and finally make the shift away from old school hard-selling, towards new-age relationship building and sales influence, as an effective selling strategy. As you build relationships with your new partners you will be equipped to use their positive emotions to show them how your product or service will add real and lasting value to their business.
