Selling, Love it or Hate it !

[Old Welsh Guy]

Selling, a word that puts fear into the heart of many. Fortunately it does the opposite to me, I love it.

What though would YOU say are the most important ingrediants that make a salesperson great?

Before you answer in true 'business mode' I want you to think about some purchases you made over the last two years, might have been a tub of face cream, might have beena car, or some business equipment.

What was it that you liked about the person who dealt with you? seriously now, no josh, have a think about the 'person' and the methods that sold you.

As an aside, post about sales that you didn't make because of the person selling. You see in selling there is no such thing as a negative, everything is positive, provided we learn from it, even a lost sale.

[SteveO]

Ill tell ya I used to do sales and electronics installation for Lockheed Martin and I liked that but it was all "warm sales" I have tried cold sales and you cant even compair the two in my book i.e. warm rocks, cold blows.

When I go to look at a product what I like is to see that the sales person has used the same or similar product and it met his/her needs and he/she knows what the product is for and how to use it to get out of it what it was designed for... A true repore of like minds. Fake it and Ill know - you loose the sale.

Steve

[Old Welsh Guy]

Agreed Steve, I have a neighbour who is a QC, and he says "sincerity is everything, when you learn to fake it the world is your oyster"! He is of course tongue in cheek, but most of us can spot fake feelings a mile away.

For me, the only two things I need to see are Product knowledge, and enthusiasm; I simply can't buy anything from anyone who is not enthusiastic about their business. Maybe it is because I think that if your not happy in your job you should get out and train yourself into a job you WILL be happy in, I am not really sure.

Enthusiasm is the one key factor that sells to me more than anything else, give me an enthusiastic person any day, and if they know the product also then bam, they got a sale (from me at least).

And cold calling rocks, but warm selling is just for money lol. I now no longer have to cold call, as all our work is incoming, " please please can you help us with our search engine ranking, and when can you start? sort of enquiries, I am sure you know what I mean.

I love cold calling for a product I believe in, in fact I often sit down with a client and show them how to do it. There is nothing in the world as good as being able to cold call, present a product, and sell it. It gives you complete confidence that no matter what the world throws at you financially, you WILL survive.

I am talking from experience here, as a long time ago I lost everything, and my world fell apart, I went from earning serious money to sleeping on the floor of a dirty old bed-sit that a friend was renting (whilst saying 'woe is me, what have I done to deserve this' ;-)). One day I said enough is enough, and got selling again. I cold called from a telephone box (walked the streets until I found one without traffic running past it lol) and set about rebuilding my life. Initially I was faced with a choice of walk to see the client (up to 5 miles) and eat food, or bus to see the client and drink water as there was not enough money for bus fair and food, I am not kidding here it really was that bad. Belief in yourself and faith that you will succeed, and learn about your product, and only sell what you can believe in, and you WILL succeed, it is a recipe that cannot fail.

I have been blessed with the ability to sell, don't know why, but I have I sell what I believe in, what is good for the client, and what I make money off. Selling is king in business, no sales no money.

Salespeople in the UK are looked down upon, often by the people in the companies they work for. What these companies do not realise is that nothing happens anywhere until the salesman sells the product. Nothing has to be manufactured, nothing delivered, nothing invoiced, no debts to collect, and no accounts to process. It is the money that the salesman brings in, that everyone else will live off, but the non-sales staff just don't see it that way.

Oh dear, I have gone off on one again lol, I really am going to have to slow the brain down one day. Today is Friday, and I am free on a Friday to tie up the loose ends.

Funny story here about selling and stuff, on another forum where I mod, a couple of people asked about selling and prospecting etc. I wrote an article (like that is just about every post I make lol) in reply, and posted a link to it on the forum. A week later the article appeared top for the phrase I had titled them about cold calling (will not post the phrase as I disagree with people self promoting on forums) I mean top on Google, top on Yahoo! Funny old life eh

I put a couple more together in reply to people asking questions about dealing with objections I selling etc, and decided they should have their own place, not to make money for me as they don't, but purely to help others make money through selling. I intended to close the pages down and put them on one site, which I did, but by that time people had linked to the originals so I didn’t like to take them down. They now rank #1 on yahoo and Google for some cold calling phrases, and there is not a day that goes by where I do not get an email thanking me, which I tell you means more to me than the cheques that come in the mail, or the transfers that go into the bank account. (Although the money is nice lol)

[BWelford]

Re not doing cold calling, I think the world has changed and Internet Marketing means the end of cold calling. In fact in a Permission Marketing age, folk don't want you to call them.

If you've chosen your market niche well and have a superior product then customers are looking for you. All you've got to do is to make sure that they find you. When they do, it's not like the old relationship of buyer/seller. It's now the new relationship of purchaser/solution provider. They have a problem (pain) and you can provide the solution they are looking for. It's a wonderful world.

[David Wallace]

Really, I can't remember the last time I did a 'cold call'.

That is how I started though, that and walk-ins to local businesses (yuk).

I hate selling myself and don't think I am very good at it. My wife is. I can provide enough info to a person about my industry to make their head spin but then have more difficulty closing the deal.

What really helped us get started was a niche site related to the Arizona construction industry called Arizona Builders' Zone. This helped us to get our foot in the door with a niche industry. We have the biggest and best site related to this industry so if I am a contractor and need a site or marketing, why not have these guys do it?

Then also being one of the original SEO firms (back in 97 there weren’t too many at all) helped to get us established in SEO.

Nowadays, just having great informative site sells a potential client before they ever get to me. I am also finding that posting on forums and writing articles goes a long way in selling yourself before you ever get on the phone with someone to 'close the deal'.

[Linda]

I worked the retail world for quite a bit and sold everything from wedding dresses to credit card machines. What I found people like is someone who knows what they are talking about, finds out exactly what the customer wants and doesn't fake it or just tell you what they think you want to hear.

When I sold wedding dresses I would flat out tell a lady if the dress didn't flatter her and would find one that did after I found out what they wanted, the look they wanted. Customers appreciated this (especially if they knew I was commission only) and I got alot of referrals. There is a fine line between selling and servicing a customer.

Also I think you should enjoy your job, like what your selling. You should relax and have a good time with your customer and people I have found like that. Now cold calling is a little harder, I personally hate to be cold called but I had a job which all I did was cold calling. Same criteria, but you were coming to them telling them why they needed your product instead of them coming to you. Again, knowledge about the product and all the possible scenerios that a customer could ask.

It was very satisfying to make a sale cold calling because it was quite a challenge. You should never try to sell something you know nothing about or don't even like. People are not stupid and can sense a "non-believer". You need to be sold on what you sell.

[Old Welsh Guy]

Seems like the one thing we all want is product knowledge then!

[copywriter]

I'll go along with the majority here. I can't stand it when a salesperson is overly nice, or fakes sincerity. I want someone who knows what they are talking about, understands what I want/need, and helps me get it.

I don't want someone who doesn't know his/her stuff. I know they say it's OK to be honest and tell the customer you don't know something, but you're willing to find out. That might fly once, possibly twice, with me, but after that I'm going to think you're a flake who doesn't know his/her product or service!

My sister-in-law is the kind of salesperson I can't stand. She sells based on her "sweet" personality and good looks. She's giggly and flirty and batts her eyelashes a lot. Geez! She also lies and says whatever she "thinks" the customer wants to hear. I don't know how she ever makes any money.

Don't try to "sell" me. And PLEASE don't hype me! Try to help me solve my problems and we'll get along just fine.

[Trinitytim]

Old Welsh Guy,

Hi. I read your post about the articles on cold calling and I was wondering if you could give me a link to them or tell me how to find them.

Thanks,

Trinitytim

[! !]

Wanted to bring back this TOPIC

Surprisingly, there are SUBLIMINAL qualities that seem to have an enormous impact - except you aren't immediately aware of it

NATURAL Body Language

The quality of the Speaking Voice

The Spontaneity of Answers

NATURAL Eye Contact

Haven't you ever met someone who seemed to pleasantly linger in your thoughts , long after the meeting was over? Did you ever ask your self WHY?