Proper Understanding Of Selling Skills!

Selling is one of the essential skills that I need to learn if I want to achieve financial freedom. This is what I have realized from reading the Rich Dad's series by Robert Kiyosaki. Selling skills allow me to sell my ideas to other people and persuade them to invest or become my business partners or become my mentors. In this way, I will be able to accelerate my path to financial success.

Since selling is an important skill to acquire, thus I decided to enroll in a few selling courses and seminars. And I have learned quite a few things about selling.

Firstly, I need to change my perception regarding rejection. It is normal to encounter rejections in selling. When a prospect rejects me, he is rejecting the product or service that I am representing. The rejection is not about rejecting me. There is always a hidden reason behind the rejection of the product of service. I should take this opportunity to find out the actual reason and see if I work around the issue.

For example, I am trying to sell someone the idea to start an online education business. He rejects the idea. After more probing and conversation, I understand that the reason he rejects the idea is because he is not familiar with Internet at all. Thus, he feels that he is unable to do the business. Well, if I can offer him some kind of training, then it will help him to overcome this issue. If he feels that it is possible, then he will join me as my business partner.

However, sometimes there is nothing much I can do about the issue at the moment. If that is the case, I should note down the issue and respect his decision. I should go back and see if I can come out with a solution for the issue in case I encounter the same rejection reason again.

Secondly, I need to learn how to overcome objections. Before I have attended any sale courses, I used to just give in to objections. After attending sale courses, I realize that I need to prepare a list of potential objections and the respective strategies to overcome the objections. And I should constantly maintain this list of objections. If I find a new objection, I will add them into my list and then come out with a few strategies to overcome the objection.

For example, if I try to make an appointment with a prospect, he may object because he is busy. Immediately, I will counter offer him by suggesting to him the idea that it will only take 10 minutes of his time. He may change his mind as a result.

Thirdly, I need to believe that it is possible for me to sell. I am shocked when I get to know about the statistics on selling. Basically, an average person should be able to get 1 customer by making 20 cold calls. This statistics varies from person to person. Some people may be able to get 1 customer out of 10 cold calls. Certain people may be able to get 1 customer out if 30 cold calls. In other words, as long as I approach enough people, I will definitely able to get a customer.

Next, I need to understand selling skills can be learned. If I look around, I can find all sorts of sales people. Some of them cannot speak very well and yet they manage to sell! That really enlightens me that selling skills can be learned.

Also, I can improve my selling skills through a few areas. The first area is technical knowledge of the products or services that I am representing. If I know my products or services well, I will be able to handle questions regarding the products or services better. The second area that I can focus on is the presentation skills. If I am able to present the information to my prospect in an easy to understand format, then it will be easier for me to sell the product or service to him. The next area that I can look at is practicing in the real situations. By practicing in real situations, I will be able to gain experience by learning from my mistakes as highlighted by the Rich Dad's series by Robert Kiyosaki.

Then, I need to understand that selling is not all about selling the products and services. It is about giving assurance to the prospect that I can provide professional service. People buy from me because they have confidence in me.

For example, there are a lot of salespeople selling insurance. Why should someone buy insurance from me and not from others? This is because they believe that I can provide better service to them.

Lastly, there are different styles of selling. I need not become a salesperson that does hard selling. All I need to do is to study the different styles of selling and adopt a mixed style that suits my personality. A successful sale person is always himself. Thus, I need not become a fake to sell.

The Death Of Traditional Selling

Far too many people waste time pursuing leads that refuse to pick up the phone or return calls. In your initial interactions, the prospect seemed 'hot' for your services. You did your song and dance. You sent literature. Now, nothing. The prospect has turned cold to all attempts to further the selling process.

Why? Because they suffer from an ailment more common than the common cold; salespressuritis. A sickening fear of being sold.

There is a simple cure for this fatal ailment. Avoid selling in the first place. I don't mean to steer clear of all contact. I mean toss out the gimmicky, 1980s talk-your-head-off, push-for-a-close techniques the 'gurus' of the past preached.

In corporate sales, gimmicky sales pitches DON'T WORK. If anyone buys they buy in spite of the gimmicks, not because of them. Gimmicky sales pitches don't work in big ticket sales situations either. There are two reasons why they never have worked and never will.

Today's market is far too sophisticated. They've "seen it all" with respect to alternate choice closes, Ben Franklin close, and all the other stupid techniques that insult a buyer's intelligence.

Second, fast-talking, outsmart-your-listener, old school techniques don't work if you're selling anything over a few hundred bucks. And lets face it, there's not an industry alive that will pay sales reps to make sales under $100 (except maybe MLM). So chances are what you're selling qualifies as a big ticket item.

The key to sales success in today's corporate and big ticket markets is to talk less and listen more.

Here's proof. In 1992 I came across a small case of sales training booklets that would change my selling career forever. The case was labeled, Xerox's Professional Selling Skills System III. The promises of the system seemed somewhat outrageous. And the sales model was unlike any sales system I had ever seen before then. But I reserved judgment and like Mikey... I tried it... I read every page of the system. I worked through the sample case studies and scenarios. I had no clue if my efforts would pay off or not.

The results? My sales more than doubled. In fact, finally finding a selling "system" instead of winging the sales process made me the top salesperson in under 30 days at that company where I had previously been struggling just to keep my job. People with more experience than I had years on this planet were selling less than me.

Pretty impressive stuff considering the month before I received a written warning of dismissal if my sales didn't turn around. And here, all of a sudden, I became number one on the totem pole. Sweet!!

However, I DON'T recommend using the Xerox Selling System today.

The Xerox sales model is a tedious process to use. Yes, it's more effective than "winging it". But the problems the system brings are many.

The process is easily fouled if you forget one or more techniques or miss hearing your "cue" for what to say next. And worse, the Xerox selling model often causes objections where none existed before.

How? By encouraging you to attempt to force replies from your listener, by requiring you to follow a bunch of predetermined hoops to get your listener to jump through (which they probably don't want to do) and by encouraging you to move them towards a close. People aren't stupid. They will notice your efforts to 'close' them even if your closing process is merely parroting back to them what they liked about your offer, then doing some lame alternate choice close. You just destroyed your credibility and created unnecessary resistance.

That's why I decided to look for something that's just as effective but less mentally taxing -- for me and for the client. What I found isn't a single selling system. It's a combination of two. Reverse Selling by Ari Galper (available at www.unlockthegame.com) and SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham (available through Amazon.com).

The SPIN Selling model is easier to use than Xerox model because there are only four elements to focus on: situation, problem, implication, needs. This simplifies the needs-based selling model.

To give an idea how simple it is, I use Microsoft One Note to separate each of the S.P.I.N. elements into four individual tabs. Basically each tab contains one or more questions to help me understand the client's interests and needs, and whether or not there's a match for what they want and what I do. This is NOT a collection of those lame sales closing gimmicks.

SPIN Selling confirmed what I had discovered on my own... listening and asking sincere questions is far more effective than using lame brained canned sales pitches. Trying to push people to do stuff they don't want to do is just plain stupid. It doesn't work in professional selling environments and it's mentally draining on you and the person you're speaking with.

As effective and simple as SPIN Selling is, it's isn't strong enough on its own for today's sophisticated market either. Just like the Xerox model, the SPIN Selling method has holes too. Reverse Selling plugs those holes.

The underlying focus of Spin Selling is similar to that of the Xerox model: closing. "Sharpening Your Skills" (chapter 12 of SPIN Selling Fieldbook) with the aim of preparing a bunch of features and benefits in advance and then 'vomiting' that noise onto a client is a disaster for consultative selling. That type of selling is the main cause of unnecessary skepticism and objections in a sales call. Don't do it.

Reverse Selling forces your attention away from closing and back where it belongs... determining if you and the client are a true match for each other or not. And if not you simply say so and thank them for their time. The focus is NOT closing. It's helping people. That's what's missing from the SPIN Selling and the Xerox model.

That's why I recommend using Spin Selling for its structure: situation, problem, implication, needs. But for what to say or ask during a sales call, I merge the Reverse Selling "no sales pitch" approach into those four elements.

I recommend you do it too. You'll eliminate all selling pressure from you and the person you're speaking with when you focus on their needs, instead of yours. And instead of reflecting an 'always be closing' mentality, your sincere concern and willingness to help will shine through.

And you'll develop a selling structure that presents you as a concerned and competent professional. But best of all, by tossing out the archaic old school sales pitches you make it easy, even a joy for others to pick up the phone and talk with you.