Sales Make "The World Go ‘Round"

Several years ago I participated in a company golf outing. In my foursome was the Vice President of Operations. We knew each other fairly well and so while we hit the ball around the golf course we chided each other with the age-old question, which is more important operations or sales? Let me present the same question to you. There is no argument that both sales and operations are important. One can’t exist without the other. A company can have the finest product in the world, but without sales, the company will not exist. Likewise, a company can have the best salespeople in the industry, but without a product to sell, the company will cease to exist.

I have a friend who told me he was going to start a service related business. He wanted me to give him a few pointers on how to sell his services. I told him I would be happy to help him in any way I could. I waited several weeks and never heard from him. When he finally called back he told me he was still working on his marketing materials and putting the final touches on his products. I didn’t hear from him for several more weeks and when he finally contacted me he told me that even though he had finished all the marketing materials and product refinements, he had decided to redo everything because he just wasn’t happy with the results. To make a long story short, he never launched his business because he never got around to selling his services. In reality, he could have gone out and sold his product and after making the sale he could have fine-tuned the delivery of his services. The failure of his company was not the product; it was the lack of sales effort.

I was with a client today who told me that he had made a sales call to a company that had never heard of his company. My client is the regional service provider for a national company. One of the users of this national product had no knowledge that my client was the regional service provider! My client may possibly be the best-kept secret in town. No other company currently provides the level of service of my client. No one! But there are still prospective customers who are unaware of the services my client has to offer. What good does it do to have the top service technicians in the country if no one knows you exist? The answer to maximizing the utilization of their service technicians is an improved sales effort.

There is a great line from the movie, Field of Dreams that states, “If you build it, they will come.” Ask yourself the question, “If they don’t know you built it, why will they come?” The answer is, they won’t! My first job after graduate school was selling iron ore to steel mills in North America. I didn’t know anything about iron ore or the steel industry when I first started. However, during the first six months of my sales career, before I had even seen an iron ore pellet, I sold millions of dollars worth of product. Once I gained knowledge of the product I was selling, my sales increased dramatically. The point is this: I didn’t need to have a great amount of knowledge about the product to make sales. I did, however, need to find the opportunities and then I could call on technical people within my company to help with the technical details until my knowledge was sufficient.

My company mined iron ore and produced high-grade iron ore pellets. Other companies around the world did the same thing. Steel mills purchased iron ore pellets from companies they knew, based on the quality of the product they produced. If a steel mill was unaware that my company sold iron ore, then they would obviously buy from someone else. If the customer doesn’t know you exist, there is no reason to believe they will purchase your product. We reached a point in the sales of iron ore that we had outsold our ability to produce. What did we do? We expanded our operations. We grew the company by increasing our sales. We didn’t spend hundreds of millions of dollars to expand our operations in hopes of selling more. We drove the growth and expansion of the company through sales.

Sales makes the world go ‘round. You sell it and your company will find a way to source it or produce it. Your future and the success of your employer depend on your ability to sell the products and services of your company. There are times when the company may increase their inventory or production believing that the salespeople will sell more. However, if management doesn’t have that belief, they won’t be willing to make the financial investment in inventory. The salesperson’s performance, or the belief that they will perform, is the driving force of our economy. The real heroes in business are the ones who sell the products and services. Without sales, nothing else happens!

Selling Is A Process, Not An Event

I am a practicing salesperson. I apply the principles and skills I write about each day in my quest for increased sales. I’ve learned many things pertaining to selling during my career. First of all, selling is hard work and you must work hard at it every day to be successful. Second, there is a lot to learn if you want to be good at your trade and you’ll never quit learning if you want to be great at selling. Third, to be successful at sales, you’ve got to embrace the attitude of serving others and finding solutions to their problems. Fourth, there will always be competition. You must find a way to set yourself and your solution apart from the rest. The fifth thing that I have learned about selling, and maybe this is the most important: making a sale is not an event but rather the result of a finely tuned and crafted process.

Closing a sale generally does not happen because you did a certain thing. Closing the sale typically happens because you did several things well, in the right order and at the right time. I have read ninety-nine ways to close a sale and don’t apply any of those ways by themselves to closing a sale. Some of the listed ways have their roots in a particular principle or skill, but by themselves, are generally not that successful. However, if you apply the principles associated with sales success, the closing of the sale becomes the logical conclusion of all that has preceded it. In these challenging economic times, where people seem to be holding tight to what resources they have, you must demonstrate exceptional skills and work harder than ever before to excel at selling. Every sales situation will be slightly different and you must establish a game plan for each opportunity. With this introduction, let me give you an example of applying principles to a process that will culminate in a sale.

Here are a couple of principles to begin with. Your very next best sale will come from a happy, satisfied customer and referrals are the next best source of sales after that. Spend time with current customers to find new opportunities. Every day spend time courting these customers that you have served well with the expectation of finding new opportunities to sell your products or services. Once you have discovered a new opportunity keep in mind the next principle: people don’t want to be sold, they want to buy. So don’t just jump right in and start selling to the opportunity you have discovered. Next principle: ask effective questions to reveal the depth and breadth of their need. Get it all out on the table so you totally understand the need and so they know that you understand.

The next principle to apply in your sales process is to present your product or service as a solution to your prospect’s need. To effectively accomplish this step of the sales process you need to implement the principle of dialogue. Invite the prospect to discuss with you the merits of your solution through dialogue. Invite them to respond to each point that you make. Allow the dialogue to flow based on their responses to your benefits. Present features as needed, but remember the next principle; benefits sell. Through practice, you will realize that all objections have been uncovered through the process of dialogue. You have now worked through another principle; people don’t buy if they have unresolved concerns. You may not be able to resolve every concern at this point, but you now know what they are and can work to resolve them immediately or over time.

The sale is not closed yet, but you are getting close. Some prospects may ask you for the sale at this point while others will need to be gently nudged. In the process of dealing with their objections, ask for the sale if you can satisfactorily resolve their remaining concerns. This principle makes the “closing of the sale” the logical conclusion of all the steps and principles that have led you to this point. This is a simple example but it reveals the process associated with selling. Selling is an emotional process of one step or principle followed by another and yet another, all leading to the logical final step of deciding to buy your product. Now, I don’t want to suggest that a salesperson will make every sale. They won’t. However, you will make more sales by applying the correct principles in your sales process than by just doing a lot of “stuff.”

There are still other principles that can be applied as needed. They might include effective follow-up that incorporates the correct timing and presenting physical gifts of knowledge, emotion, endorsements and specific benefits. Other principles might include presenting to all decision makers, not just one; setting the agenda as part of each contact; making the buying decision easy and simple through providing as much of the physical effort as possible; providing demos or site visits where appropriate; asking for referrals based on the excellent buying experience you have provided them; and the list goes on. Put together your own process for selling, through applying the proper principles and your sales will definitely increase.

These are challenging times for salespeople. Waiting for customers and prospects to place an order with you will not work in this market. You must be proactive and practice excellent skills based on time tested and proven principles of communications and relationships in order to achieve success. There are enough sales out there to keep the skilled salespeople happy and wealthy.

Twenty Principles That Comprise The Foundation For Sales Success

Several years ago while driving from Jacksonville Florida to Orlando with my boss, he explained to me why he was the world’s greatest salesperson. He said it boiled down to one thing, just one thing. He was born with the “gift of gab.” I couldn’t believe my ears and yet he was dead serious. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’m not challenging the fact that he was born with the gift of gab. What I am challenging is his statement that the gift of gab is the secret to sales success. I’m going to give you a list of twenty principles that I believe comprise the foundation of sales excellence. Salespeople that effectively apply these principles are far and away the best salespeople in the world. Bye-the-way, the gift of gab is not one of them.

1. PEOPLE BUY THE SALESPERSON FIRST. Sell yourself and the sale of your product will come much easier.

2. PEOPLE BUY FROM PEOPLE THEY BELIEVE, LIKE AND TRUST (BLT). Given the choice, all things being equal, you will always purchase from someone with whom you have a relationship.

3. EFFECTIVE FOLLOW-UP (ROMANCING THE SALE) GREATLY IMPROVES YOUR CLOSING RATIO. Being in front of the prospect as often as possible will help them make the right decision.

4. PEOPLE DON’T BUY IF THEY HAVE UNRESOLVED CONCERNS ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT. Get all concerns out on the table and work to resolve each one.

5. TELLING ISN’T SELLING. Knowing what your product can do has very little impact in making a sale.

6. PROBLEM SOLVING IS BASIC TO EFFECTIVE SELLING. People typically make a purchase in order to solve a problem. No problem, no sale.

7. UNDERSTANDING THE PROSPECT’S NEEDS THROUGH EFFECTIVE QUESTIONING IS CRITICAL TO THE SALES PROCESS. Give the prospect the opportunity to explain their specific needs before you tell them about your products.

8. PRESENT YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES AS A SOLUTION TO THE PROSPECT’S NEEDS. Don’t discuss your products and services until you understand the specific needs of the prospect.

9. APPLY THE PRINCIPLE OF EFFECTIVE LISTENING. You will never truly understand the prospects needs, wants and desires unless you ask effective questions and then listen intently to the answers.

10. UNDERSTAND ALL OF THE NEEDS BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS. Solving a single problem before all the problems have been revealed will limit your understanding of the total situation.

11. LEARN TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE YOUR TIME EACH DAY. The majority of sales people spend less than half their time effectively working their sales process.

12. SCHEDULE TIME EACH DAY TO FIND NEW OPPORTUNITIES. Opportunities can be found with existing customers as well as finding totally new prospects.

13. ASK FOR REFERRALS. The majority of all sales opportunities never reach the point of solicitation. Referrals close at a much higher ratio than cold calling or bidding.

14. KNOW YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES. A prospects confidence can increase by as much as 75% when the sales person knows their products.

15. KNOW YOUR COMPETITION. The sales arena is similar to guerilla warfare. If you don’t know your competition you will be beaten on every front.

16. SELL THE BENEFITS OVER THE FEATURES. People are only interested in what the product will do for them (WIIFM). The features will come as needed.

17. CAPTURE YOUR PROSPECT’S ATTENTION. Most people are busy, unfocussed, have short attention spans and want to get to the point. Use a prop of some sort to capture their attention and cause them to want to know more.

18. ALWAYS SET THE AGENDA. Never leave an appointment without first setting the agenda for what will happen next and when.

19. KEEP SCORE AND HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE. Nothing is more critical to success than goal setting. Set daily, weekly, monthly and annual goals. Develop a game plan for the achievement of your goals and then hold yourself accountable.

20. DRESS FOR SUCCESS. The very first impression you make is visual. If your customer or prospect is turned off because of your appearance, nothing you can say will over come that first negative impression.

This list of twenty principles is not inclusive. It does, however, provide a foundation for many more principles and skills that can improve your overall sales performance. In my sales training program I cover more than one hundred and twenty different principles and skills. Some are more important than others and the application of every principle and skill is not necessary to make each sale. The important concept is to understand that effective selling is not just opening your mouth and letting the words fly. Selling is comprised of the application of very specific principles and skills. Use these twenty principles to shore up your sales foundation, allowing you to enjoy even greater sales success.

Positive Thinking Combined With Positive Actions Leads To Positive Results

I’m not a prognosticator, but I have a feeling salespeople will be talking about the recession that began in the year two thousand and eight for a long time.  Times are tough and sales are too.  It’s not like in the good old days when all you needed was more time to write the orders. 

When I was very young, I remember my grandfather talking about the great depression.  I was obviously too young to understand much of what he was talking about, but I did have a sense of the struggles he went through to support his family.  When I would complain about toys or things I wanted as a child, my father would often mention the things he went without when he was young during those great depression years.  That was twenty-five years after the stock market crash and it was still a topic of discussion.  Guess what?  Eighty-one years later and we are still talking about it. 

People discuss the great depression and ponder the depth and breadth of the current economic condition in reference to all that is bad and uncomfortable.  However, let your sales competitors worry about it while you do something about it.  Don’t become paralyzed by all the negative aspects of the current market; become energized by all that still remains positive.  Several years ago I read a poem about a little red rooster and an old black hen that explains the current sales environment with the attitude and approach you should take.  The poem is titled, Now Let’s All Get Down To Work.

Said the Little Red Rooster, “Believe me, things are tough,
    Seems that worms are scarcer and I can’t find enough;
What’s become of all those fat ones is a mystery to me;
    There were thousands through that rainy spell, but now where can they be?”


Then the Old Black Hen who heard him, didn’t grumble or complain—
    She had gone through lots of dry spells, she had lived through floods and rain.
So she flew up on the grindstone, and she gave her claws a whet,
    As she said, “I’ve never seen the time when there weren’t worms to get.”


She picked a new and undug spot; the earth was hard and firm.
    The Little Rooster jeered, “New Ground! That’s no place for worms.”
The Old Black Hen just spread her feet—she dug both fast and free.
    “I must go to the worms,” she said, “The worms won’t come to me.”


The Rooster vainly spent his day through habit, by the ways
    Where fat round worms had passed in squads, back in the rainy days.
When nightfall found him supper less, he growled in accents rough,
    “I’m hungry as a fowl can be.  Conditions sure are tough.”


He turned then to the Old Black Hen, and said, “It’s worse with you.
    For you’re not only hungry, but must be tired, too.
I rested while I watched for worms, so I feel fairly perk
    But how are you, without worms too, and after all that work?”


The Old Black Hen hopped to her perch and dropped her eyes to sleep,
    And murmured in a drowsy tone, “Young man, hear this and weep,
I’m full of worms and happy, for I’ve eaten like a pig.              
    The worms were there as always—but boy, I had to dig!”

Here are ten solid principles and ideas that salespeople can apply to increase their sales in today’s challenging market.

1. Change your thinking.  Believe that your sales can increase even when the market is declining.
2. Work harder than you have ever worked before.  Difficult times require extreme effort.
3. Put in the time.  Plan and schedule a full eight-hour sales day.  That means eight hours finding and developing sales opportunities.
4. Set very specific daily, weekly and monthly goals with activities directly focused on achieving those goals.
5. Define your sales process and focus only on those activities that will generate sales.  You don’t have time to do “stuff”.
6. Do not error in believing that you are getting one hundred percent of your current customers business.  Make contacts at all levels and within all departments, groups, and subsidiaries to be certain that you are not leaving anything for your competitors.
7. Make a habit of telling everyone you meet what you do for a living.  If they need your product or service then sell them.  If they don’t, then ask for their help in introducing you to those who may need your products.
8. Contact every company or individual who has purchased from your company in the past ten years.
9. Ask every current customer for leads and referrals.  Define for them precisely what you are looking for in a lead or referral.  Everyone knows someone; don’t take “no” for an answer.
10. Review your performance and success daily and recommit yourself each day to following your plan, regardless of how difficult it may be.  Remember, a challenging economy requires rising to the challenge.