Confidence Drives Sales

In my previous post on the basic selling skills needed for success in sales, I listed four basic things that sales people need to do to be successful in sales. These four things are: belief in your products and services, knowing how to prospect/knowing your target market, knowing how to engage prospects and customers with a message that is compelling and the ability to persist in the face of rejection and knowing how to get past objections. This post will focus more specifically on belief in your product and services.

Previously, I described belief in your products and services as follows:

Believing in your product means that you think it is the best on the market and that you would buy it. Belief in your product is key because your presentation will fail to impress the prospect if you do not.

Before you enter the field of selling, you need to decide on products and services that you want to sell. Once you identify products and services that you want to sell, you need to do research on the companies that have these offerings. When choosing a company that you want to work for, it extremely important that the company is reputable and that is stands behind its offerings. In other words, make sure the customer service and product reliability is top-notch. (I will explain about customer service in more detail in later posts.) This is important to establish because this will allow you to believe in your company.

Once you believe in your company along with their offerings, you now have to build and constantly refine your product knowledge. Your company will help you do this by providing you with product literature schematics, presentations and diagrams on how the products are used. However, you must commit to doing the work that it takes to develop this knowledge. Over time, your constant study of your products will enable you to become an expert. Your mastery of product knowledge will enable you to develop the self-confidence needed to make a successful sales presentation and forge long-term partnerships with customers. In sales today, the prospects and customers are looking for someone who is an expert. It is important that you approach prospects and customers as an expert while at the same time employing a consultative selling approach. In other words, you need to do what it takes to be perceived as someone who can and will help customers with their business needs. When offering prospects and customers a solution, it is important to keep their needs in mind and to not sell just to make a commission. You need to be confident that your offer is best for your prospects and customers; if your offering is wrong for them it is your responsibility to not force it on them because you will lose their business. Your goal as a sales person is to help as many prospects and customers as you can with your offerings. Customers should have confidence in your expertise so they consult with you first about products and services in your industry.

In my next post, I will cover how to prospect and identify your target market in more detail. Please send me your questions so I can start the ask Dan section.

Until then, thank you for reading!