Everyone is in sales. Mothers sell eating healthy to their children. Teachers sell learning to their students. Business owners sell their vision to their customers both internal and external. Salespeople sell their products and services to potential customers.
Yet when listening to many small business owners to entrepreneurs, one of their greatest challenges is sales. They love delivering their solutions, but they truly do not love sales.
Possibly this disconnect may help to explain a survey in 2015 by Indeed.com that indicated the number five and six most in demand positions were sales managers and sales representatives. Companies are looking for sales people who are competent, who want to sell and who truly love to sell.
With my clients, finding an performance driven sales person is a continual challenge. Many in sales want an annual salary and fear the commission only position. Yet, it is in this type of sales position that a truly great salesperson will excel. As another client has said many times “When you are hungry, you will hunt.”
Is selling or sales easy? The answer to that question is simply “It all depends.” Selling products or services demands specific skill sets including: communication, creativity, decision making, goal setting, marketing, problem solving and sales just to name a few.
Zig Ziglar said “sales is the transference of feelings.” To be able to transfer feelings suggests you can relate to people and discover what they are not saying. Some define this ability as empathy. To leverage this people and sales skill demands that your energies are continually pointed at the customer and not at you.
Empathy is part of emotional intelligence: recognizing and understanding the emotions of others.; recognizing and understanding your own emotions and then managing both. This intelligence can be developed if you are willing to let go of your ego and become an authentic leader who readily gives of herself or himself.
Top sales performers continually demonstrate empathy through emotional intelligence. If you want to increase sales, learn how to be more empathetic from the words you speak to the body language you demonstrate.
TAKE ACTION by establishing a 30-day sales goal where you will covert at least 2 to 4 prospects (qualified sales leads) into customers. Listen to your customer’s unstated needs and make them stated. By focusing more on your customers and less on what you sell, you will secure a significant increase in sales.