The Magnificent Seven

1. Attitude is Everything

              Having the correct attitude before you pick up the phone, write that memo, record a video or podcast, or make a sales call is critical.  Eliminate your internal negative “mind trash”, focus on the Here and the Now and be grateful for everything, especially the opportunity to help others. Put a smile on your face and a bounce to your step and be happy!

2. Ask Questions and LISTEN

              Don’t rush into things prematurely. Stop selling and start listening. Until you KNOW where your prospect is coming from, until you develop empathy with them and appreciate their challenges and opportunities, you have no business trying to sell them anything. Ask questions, be interested, and learn their world!

3. Sell Value, Not Product

              Potential customers don’t want to hear endless details about your product or service. They only care about what is valuable to them, not you. Find out what’s important in their world and if you listen, they will tell you.  Once you understand them, you’ll be able to connect with them more effectively, and you will have earned their attention. People buy when they are convinced the value is worth it!

4. Handle their Objections  

              During the selling process, you will frequently encounter a wide variety of objections. Never ignore these tell-tale buying signs, always dive in and handle them promptly. First listen and understand their concern, then deal with it effectively. A seasoned salesperson is an expert at handling objections!

5. Keep it Simple

              Don’t confuse your customers or prospects with complicated explanations and technical “jargon.” If you can’t explain it so clearly that an 8-year-old could understand, don’t bring it up! Practice your most relevant selling points until they are unique, compelling, and extremely easy to understand. Simple sells!

6. Close Deals

              Your job is to finalize the transaction, and to persuade your prospect or customer to move forward with the sale. Everyone else on your team is helping, assisting, and supporting but you are the closer.  People love to buy, and your job is to make it possible for them to say yes, because they really want and need your product. The most skilled salespeople build terrific rapport and trust, selling value all the way, so that customers insist on buying from them!

7. Don’t Give Up

            It has been proven by years of research that 90% of salespeople give up after encountering significant objections. Most rookies give up after hearing 3-4 “no’s”, but it turns out they gave up too early! The majority of sales occur after these “no’s” have been overcome. If your product is a good match for the prospect, if it will sincerely benefit them, if it is truly valuable to them, you owe it to them to complete the sale.