10 Sales Tips That Can Help You Sell More---NOW!

We all sell.

We sell every day! Even when we aren’t “selling” our products or services, we sell. We spend time at networking events, on the phone, on Facebook, on Twitter, on LinkedIn building our network, our businesses and our brand.

It is never too late to improve your selling skills.

I wanted to offer some tips that you can implement immediately so that as you reach out at all the upcoming holiday networking events and parties, you can be even more successful than you already are!

Have a Sales Strategy
Like anything being built, a business needs a blueprint too! Your sales strategy is your blueprint for your selling success. It is the map you follow that guides you to your final destination: SUCCESS! It will ensure that you are focused and moving forward to achieve your goals.

Know Your Target Market
During your Sales Strategy Session you will define your ideal customer or your target market. If you don’t know what kind of plants you want to grow in your garden, you don’t know what kind of seeds to plant. First learn what you want in an ideal client; then do the research to determine what your ideal client wants from you! You can’t sell anything without understanding the person, group, or company you are selling to.

Schedule Time to Sell
Once you put your sales strategy together; then break it out into action steps to move you forward. Make a daily, weekly and even a monthly plan. Work your plan! When you work your plan you will reach your goals. Even if you only set aside one hour a day to make calls, set appointments and follow up, you will see some results. Consistency will move you forward and closer to your goals!

STOP TALKING
Yes, you have heard this many times before AND it bears repeating: “Don’t talk so much!” LISTEN. Really listen to your prospect as he/she speaks. (Take notes if you can). You will hear important clues that will guide you toward your sale. Selling isn’t telling your story, it is listening to theirs. Let them do most of the talking and you most of the listening!

Be Curious and HEAL THEIR PAIN
Selling isn’t pushing, it is a gentle pulling…pulling a thread of discovery. Be curious and ask questions to discover how you can work together and what your customer might need. You can’t solve their problem without knowing what it is. So ask questions that will get you the answers that uncover their pain and then you can heal it! That’s selling!

The Money shouldn’t be the Goal
At the end of your life, you won't care about being rich (you can’t take it with you), but you will want to be known as the best in your field. Make that the goal and the money will follow.

Attitude Attitude Attitude
It should be a good one! Don’t take the “NO” personally. Starbucks may be right across the street from Coffee Bean and they are both crowded. It is a “taste bud” thing. When someone says NO, we can ask why and learn, we can say “thank you” and ask for a referral, or just move on. Don’t worry your ideal client is there. He or she might just be across the street at the Starbucks, so continue on with a smile.

Relationship Relationship Relationship
I buy from people I like. Don’t you? So do your customers. People buy on emotion and back it up with intelligence. So you want to connect with your customer and be yourself. You are building a relationship. This might take one call or two or seven or more, but keep at it and your prospect will appreciate your efforts!

Show Value
Selling is a process and closing is part of the process. In this process you MUST show VALUE to your prospect. When you do finally quote a cost, remember to reiterate all the value your customer will get for their hard earned money. When you show value you are more likely to hear “yes”. You aren’t “closing” someone you are offering value and filling their need.

Have Fun
Remember that you have a core mission and part of this is sharing your knowledge, your value, your product and your service. So have fun! No matter what, this should all be fun and it can be! Selling is nothing more than learning about another person, being interested, curious, open, and honest and making someone’s day with a smile. So have fun and sell lots!

I hope that this has been helpful! If you need more, or have specific questions I am here to help and look forward to our collaboration!

Visit my website for more on how I can help you: www.essentialselling.com

HERE'S MY DEFINITION OF ATTRACTION MARKETING

Attraction Marketing is a term that you can find all over the internet!

This is the “new” model for network marketing, MLM’s and other businesses. Everyone is using the term and everyone is doing it so that they can become “the hunted and not the hunter”! This is a great concept. It works for certain businesses and certain products and services. The stars line up correctly and you make your passive millions.

I have a little bit of a different take on attraction marketing. If you aren’t on the top of the search engines, coming up in the first 5 places on Google or Yahoo, I don’t know how well attraction marketing will work for you. But let’s put that aside, because that only takes money and a good writer.

Let’s say you do get people coming to your website. Now what? Do they just buy your product? Or are they browsing? What if they have questions? Are you going to answer all their questions via email? How are you going to build the relationship?

Is your e-zine, newsletter, or email campaign going to be the one that will stand out from all the rest? Why? What is it about your correspondence that makes it better than the person that sent their e-zine five minutes before you sent yours?

I am not trying to be negative, this is just my opinion. In this frantic “attraction-marketing-market” it doesn’t matter how well written your e-zine is or how funny or cute, because the only thing that will differentiate you from all your competition is YOU!

This is what I mean about Attraction Marketing. If you want to attract someone to you then you need to be strong and confident in your communication and at some point your communication will need to be live.

Many of the people who have built their internet empires started somewhere and rumor has it that they started with talking to a lot of people; both, in person and on the phone. The people who have built their empires on the internet had to start somewhere. Just a little note, when they did start, there were a lot less people doing what they were doing, that is why they teach it now!

I am not saying that you shouldn’t utilize all the tools in your tool box and one tool is attraction marketing.

It is time for so much more. It is time for focus. It is time for direction. It is time to stand out and know your worth, your value, the benefits you can offer and how to build relationships! At some point you will need to pick up the phone, either to follow up or reach out. So, think about it. Are you ready for that? Are you ready to stand out amongst your competition as the one that offers the personal touch? Are you ready, as an expert, to offer the professionalism to follow up and reach out?

My definition of attraction marketing is this: If you reach out and know why you are reaching out and the value you offer someone and you have the knowledge to back it all up as an expert, you will naturally attract your customers to you. People will be drawn to you and even if they don’t work with you immediately, they will eventually! Or they might just refer someone to you!

Just my two cents and a different spin on attraction marketing to about.

Learn more: carolyn@essntialselling.com Stay tuned for my updated website...