There are many different sales rules that top sales managers and top sales professionals use all of the time. These rules are set up to help the sales professional to avoid the most common mistakes that can result in botching the sale and on limiting your chances for another meeting with the buyer in the future.

These sales rules apply regardless of the industry you are selling into or the specific product or service your company offers. They are also applicable for selling to a local manager or into the C-suite. They are also good business practice and they will create a framework for moving through the sales process.

• Never walk in cold – with the ease of finding out about people on social media sites such as LinkedIn or in learning about companies through websites, there is never an excuse to walk into a business meeting without having a good understanding of your customer, his or her business and the challenges the industry or company faces.
• Stick with the sales strategy – sales strategies or sales plans are in place because they work. Trying to go in an improvise a sales presentation or a sales plan creates confusion and disorganization, turning the buyer off and lowering your credibility.
• Rehearse the meeting – by anticipating the objections, challenges and questions the buyer is likely to have you can prepare several responses to redirect the conversation to making the deal rather than focusing in on trying to handle the small details.
• Don’t talk the buyer out of the sale – testing if the buyer is prepared to move from discussion to specific deals is important throughout the sales meeting. Sometimes the buyer is ready to move to the close and the seller keeps talking, creating a negative experience for the buyer and risking the loss of the sale. Test some key points to help you move from presentation to the close.

One of the biggest rules in sales is to never take a rejection or a negative comment personally. By keeping emotions out of the interaction, you project a professional, supportive and positive attitude that leaves the door open for another meeting and the chance to make the sale. Accept disappointment with positivity and resilience, move forward in life, and take the situation as a learning lesson.

To learn how sales rules can be used to boost your team’s performance, enroll in a course through The Sales Coaching Institute. Visit the website to find out more.

Related Article: How Sales Beliefs and Behaviors Drive Results

The One Piece of Sales Advice To Be Successful In Selling

Those new to sales are often overwhelmed with advice from senior sales reps, sales managers, websites, blogs and from conferences and sales training events. Each of these sources of information is eager to provide a new sales professional with a “proven method” or the “sure formula” for sales success. This information overload is sometimes overwhelming and must be sifted through in order to determine what works best for you as an individual.

In fact, there are a lot of different elements that have to be in place to be a successful sales person. There needs to be a structured approach to the sale, research, and preparation on the company and the buyer, a good understanding of the product or service as well as the ability to close the deal.

However, and here is the foundation for every successful sales person, no matter how disciplined you are at applying a method, how polished the presentation may be or how effectively you can detail the benefits and features of your product, nothing matters if you cannot connect with the customer.

Communication and Connection

Every successful sales professional is an expert in communication and connection with his or her clients. This skill is part natural ability to build rapport quickly and easily combined with learning about the most effective ways to communicate with different people.

Having the ability to engage a client in a conversation creates an instant sense of friendship, camaraderie and interpersonal connectivity. Connecting well with your clients builds long-lasting connections and recommendations. This comes from being able to tease out interests, passions, and information about the buyer and the company and then build on these to find areas of concern for the buyer that your product creates an answer.

Effective communication is not just about being friendly or being seen as a trusted resource; it is about knowing how to communicate with an individual in a way that meets their needs. Learning as much as you can about building rapport and developing effective communication skills will be the key to success in your sales career. This bit of sales advice will help you succeed in your sales endeavours, always communicate, collaborate, and connect!

 

Related Article: The Power of Positive Sales Habits

 

At The Sales Coaching Institute, we offer training for sales representatives and sales managers that are tailored to your sales needs. To find out more, see us online at salescoach.us.

Commissions, Bonuses & Incentives

 

The field of sales can be a very lucrative venture for anyone willing to invest the time and effort required to make their sales numbers. Sales puts you in charge of your financial future and can give you a lifelong career that will be satisfying and provide you with financial freedom. It’s no secret that you have to sell in order to make money and be successful. The more you sell the more you will make and vise Versa. The amount of work that you dedicate towards making sales will improve your numbers in commissions, incentives, and bonuses.

 

Making a Commission

Most sales jobs are based on commission. A commission means that for every product you sell you will receive a percentage of the profit. If you sell a 150-dollar vacuum cleaner and your commission on that product is 5 percent you will have 7.50 added to your paycheck every time you sell one. This may not sound like much, but if you make 9.00 per hour and work full time this can add up. If you sold 60 vacuum cleaners in the pay period and worked 40 hours you would make 450 in commission and 360 in base pay bringing your gross total to 810 every week. Not too shabby for selling 30 vacuums a week. Another example could be basic commission for a car salesman. He makes 11.00 per hour and makes a commission of 100 for every compact car, 150 for every sedan, 200 for every truck and 250 for every SUV. This week the salesman worked 40 hours and sold 3 compact cars 2 sedans a truck and 2 SUVs. At the end of the week he made 440 in base pay plus 750 in commission bringing his gross total for the week to 1190 dollars. The more you sell the more you make.

 

Bonuses and Incentives

Most companies offer their sales reps bonuses and incentives to keep them motivated and excited about selling for the company. An example of a basic incentive would be every time you sell 100 products you get an extra 100 dollars on your paycheck. Or when you reach 500 products sold you get a 200 gift card to your favorite retailer. These incentives give the sales rep a goal to achieve and something to look forward to for all the hard work they put in. A bonus is similar to an incentive, but it is usually given after a predetermined amount of time. For example, every quarter your company might reward the top 5 sales reps with 500 dollars’ cash. This money is a bonus on top of all the incentives the top 5 sales rep may have already received. Once again the more you sell the more you make. You get out of selling what you put into it. You are in control of how much money you get on your paycheck. If you sell very little your paycheck would be relatively smaller than if you sold more.

So, in selling you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you sell!

When it comes to sales there are three sales soul searching questions you can ask yourself to stay focused and be the most effective sales person possible.

 

Is This Product Something I believe in?

If you are trying to sell a product you wouldn’t even buy yourself chances are you are not selling it well. You may believe that a good salesperson can sell ice to an Eskimo, but it wouldn’t be without a clear conscience and often not for repeat business. It all depends on what you sell and how you sell it. If you can’t convince yourself it is a good product, you will never be able to convince some else no matter how charming you think you are. You may have started out with passion but the same old thing day after day is getting you down. Look inside yourself to find that drive and passion again. Remind yourself of the positive outcome that comes with accomplishing your goal. Look back at what you were doing differently when you had drive and vigor and pull it out again. This will reflect in every sales meeting. With passion and drive you can sell almost anything because you believe in yourself and want to convince people they can’t live without the product that means so much to you.

Can I sincerely say I respect the people I work with?

Look around and watch what is going on. Truth be told most people don’t have to do this. They already know what is going on around them. What you need to ask yourself is: are you okay with it? Whether you have people who are constantly passing the buck, or clients who are trying to get away with murder with unreasonable demands, you will eventually have a moment when you have to decide if you can continue working with these people or not. If you are starting to feel like a doormat, are always biting your tongue when you are speaking with your boss and in general don’t enjoy the company of the team around you it will be impossible for you to be an effective sales professional.

Do I care about my clients?

The last question to ask yourself is if you still care about your clients. If you don’t they’ll know it and it will reflect in your sales. Find a way to get back to your clients roots or find your way to the door.

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If your sales team needs to ask some hard and fast soul searching questions motivational keynote speaker and sales expert Doug Dvorak can help. Visit http://dougdvorak.com/contactus.asp for information.