I.G.N.I.T.E Sales Tip:15 Ways To Be A Better Seller

To be a better and more successful seller:

1. You must convey excitement about what you do.
2. You must know when to be quiet.
3. You must Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS).
4. You must have an open mind at each step of the sales process. (No perconceptions!)
5. You must have a defensive sales strategy and anticipate what could go wrong. (Think one step ahead.)
6. You must temper zeal with pragmatism.
7. You must never minimize the role of the administrative staff at the target company, particularly executive assistants.
8. You must avoid keeping the wrong prospect in play for too long. In other words, you must know your own time cycle, and you must learn when to recognize that you are spending too much time, energy, and attention on an opportunity that is not moving forward during that average selling cycle. There is an average period of time that it takes a current customer to move from the “initial discussions” phase to a decision to do more work with you. Your job is to find out what that average period of time is—and honor it. If you consistently invest significantly longer periods of time than that in your selling, there’s a problem, and you need to take a close look at your time choices.
9. You must learn to develop a realistic sense of what the target company wants to do with you. (Don’t overvalue!)
10. You must maintain control of the meeting and the sales process as a whole.
11. You must monitor how much time you spend developing outlines and proposals.
12. You must learn to charge what you’re worth. (Don’t undervalue yourself; don’t sell yourself short when determining the value you bring to the organization.)
13. You must remember that each relationship you build will stay with you over the long term.
14. You must think positively—and think big!
15. You must be an effective interviewer.

[from Stephan Schiffman’s “Sales Essentials”]