Does gender play a role in sales ability? Are there specific qualities needed to be great at sales? Can anyone learn to sell? Does one have to be aggressive to win at sales? As a sole proprietor, do I need to hire someone else to do my sales?
The answer, as you can clearly see here, is a resounding NO!
So women in business and women entrepreneurs get ready to learn the must-have qualities that will help you be successful in sales.
Learning to sell can be taught. There are plenty of sales training organizations ready, willing and able to turn you into a selling machine.
However, with that said, there are a few basic concepts that anyone attempting to sell anything better understand.
But, let's begin with the fact we all know someone who, as they say, "could sell ice to the Eskimos". This idiom has come to imply that the person in question speaks very convincingly and is successful in getting people to buy what is being sold even if they don't need it. (Eskimos supposedly have more ice than they need).
For me, that person was my Dad. Dad could, and did, sell just about everything. However, during most of my life he sold commercial real estate. As a real estate developer he sold vision. Now maybe that sounds easy to some, but it is probably the most difficult sale of all. Attempting to draw a picture vivid enough for someone else to be willing to write a 6 or 7 figure check is genius sales ability - some might even call it chutzpah (Hebrew word meaning audacity or courage to believe in oneself).
The truth is when my Dad painted a picture verbally for you, you believed him because he believed it.
So, the first must-have quality every salesperson needs:
(1) TO BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU ARE SELLING If you don't truly believe in it you will never be able to convince others to buy it. Think about what you are trying to sell: a service, a product, an idea. Do you honestly believe that if your target market doesn't buy it right now they will: go out of business, be miserable, go broke, get sick, or worse die?
If you want to be successful at selling you better learn right now that you need to believe in what you are selling more than life itself. This is the first step to successful selling.
(2) TO CONVEY URGENCY Life is short and in sales the time to act is NOW. As a woman small business owner or a sole proprietor your time is money. Every minute you spend trying to sell your product and/or service is a minute taken away from doing something else in your business. When you leave a sales call, phone conversation or email pitch with "I'll follow up with you soon" you have just committed the most egregious sales mistake. WHAT DOES SOON MEAN? Does it mean one day, one week, one month, next season or next year? Your prospect has just put your pitch in the circular file. Why? Because you have basically informed him or her that you will be back and start all over from scratch. Is that what you intended? Of course not.
Therefore, every sales call or pitch must convey urgency. Today is the last day of the sale. The deadline for orders is closing NOW. The slot you are offering is being pitched to someone else and will go today. You know this is true. Every house you have ever looked at has an offer on the table. Every car you have ever test driven has someone coming back to see it later that day. As a salesperson you must believe that this is your prospect's only chance to take advantage of this great product, service, offer etc.
This is not disingenuous if you believe it. When I was selling print advertising and I said the deadline for this space is today - I meant it. I would say, "The train is leaving the station and if you want to be onboard with us, it's time to buy your ticket now." My prospects bought because they believed I was telling the truth because I always tell the truth and believe in what I am saying.
So, what are you going to sell today? Who are you going to sell to? Can you walk your talk with conviction? Can you paint a picture that everyone can see themselves being part of?
If you can do these two things, you will win at sales.
And, make sure you spend more time listening than talking as your prospect will tell you what (s)he need and when (s)he needs it. And, last but not least, don't forget that the best word to hear in the sales process is NO. NO means your prospect has objections. Once you know what the objections are you are closer to the sale. Yes, you will negotiate in the process, but now you know what to negotiate.
NO brings you a lot closer to a sale than maybe (the most dreaded word in the sales process).
(3) SELL YOURSELF To be successful at sales people need to like you. People still do business with people they know, like and trust. This is just another great reason women in business can thrive at selling. When you genuinely care about others and want what's best for them and you believe that what you are selling will make them: happy, live longer, feel better, smarter, richer, better looking, more employable, more successful, etc.
Finally, the best part of any sale is the relationship that is built that keeps them coming back for more. Let the prospect know how to reach you and that the transaction is the beginning of interaction.
Now, go out and sell.
(Picture from http://rayhigdon.com)