The Three-step Journey To Becoming a Star Salesperson!
Summary: By focusing on what makes you trustworthy, more worthwhile to your prospects and then doubling down on it, you can make what you are selling seem irresistible. You would no longer have to work on just presentation or product strategies, but rather on your seller’s perception of you and image that the company, product/service, and you as a representative portray. This is where you strike with your charm and make your competitors scratch their heads in frustration.
We communicate to convey our points more clearly to the other person; we communicate to know the other person well. A good salesperson, however, would tell you that communication done right is all you need to sell. Here’s a Star Guide to help you become a star salesperson.
Being an executive coach, meeting plenty of talented people comes with the job. And it never ceases to surprise that making a sale doesn’t come very easy to these brilliant individuals. Instead of making your presence felt as someone of influence, you might more often than not, resort to being too pushy towards your potential buyers. This kills the charm, the automatic invoking of positive feelings in someone you converse with.
An HBR Article1 mentions how one of the top salespersons in a firm went into an RFP meeting and spent all his time presenting what he thought should have been in the RFP instead of talking about the firm’s response to the RFP. By the end of that meeting, other potential firm representatives were sent home, the RFP was scratched off and the company let this salesperson redefine their needs and demands. This is the age of insight selling, where you are counted upon by your customers to tell them what they need and create a state of flux.
Understanding these very simple steps is all you need to exert charm rather than pressure:
Provide Relief by Creating Solutions
The ideas that create the most consensus and clout with sales advocates are the ones that are disruptive yet promise a positive change from the status quo. You as a salesperson can impress into your prospect that once they have your solution, they can rest easy again. Provide insight and evidence in a logically coherent format. Then your prospect can be charmed by your steady thinking, and only then would they have a sound reason to trust your business acumen.
Provide Comfort by Building Trust
Sales is about trust. It’s about proving through your actions and words that you do know what you are talking about. You don’t automatically become chummy, you answer their questions, sit through them trying to pick apart your solutions and keep coming back reliably.
To listen patiently, understand your prospect and their business needs well, and finally work on building trust. Selling is never about nudging people into buying; selling is all about making your charm felt.
Provide Appeal by Positioning Uniquely
Prospective buyers are surrounded by a constantly increasing number of choices. Highlight what sets you apart. They should think that once they get used to your unique services, they would never even dream of going without it. This closely relates to the idea of ‘positioning’: an association of a brand with a particular picture. Figure out what you can set yourself apart with, and focus your energies on fulfilling that label. That’s how you make yourself the most charming option to opt for.
Impact on Leadership
An HBR Article2 explores how new players came out of the blue and started being serious threats to longstanding market dominators. Companies have started focusing on selling at least one of three values: Customer Intimacy, Product Leadership or Operational Excellence to their customers and this narrowing down of focus rather than broadening has had positive effects. You can now really ride waves to the top with sales as long as you know what you offer, you keep refining it to fulfil a niche, and keep being a constantly reliable source of it.
Do you want to feel lost when your prospects have multiple demands and approach you with skepticism? Do you want to make easy sales by being the trusted word on market insights and customer needs?
3 Immediately Applicable Action Steps
- Talk about wanting positive change and your vision of how it could be. For the right needs, you are selling a catalyst for growth and expansion.
- Express concern for their needs, be creative and bold in making suggestions.
- Define your approach, your philosophy of the product or service.
References
1- Adamson, B., Dixon, M., & Toman, N. (2012, July 1). The End of Solution Sales. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2012/07/the-end-of-solution-sales
2-Treacy, M., & Wiersema, F. (2014, August). Customer Intimacy and Other Value Disciplines. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/1993/01/customer-intimacy-and-other-value-disciplines
Authored by Coach Vikram
Vikram is an Executive Presence Coach who supports CXOs and senior leaders to make an impact, influence, and lead with ease. He advises C-level leaders and teams to strengthen business performance through their executive presence and star leadership.
Vikram works closely with Boards and senior leaders to align leadership needs with strategy. His forte is his ability to develop trusted partnerships with senior leaders at some of the most recognized companies in the world. Vikram coaches senior leaders to draw upon their best selves, while growing their business and their leadership capabilities.
Vikram and his team have developed a groundbreaking model of executive presence and an Executive Presence Index (EPI) Assessment, the first frequency based, scientifically validated tool to measure executive presence.
Connect with him if you want practical and immediately applicable strategies to accelerate results, develop your people, and influence others to make a positive difference in your organization.
