Learn sales skills? I can hear the screams now: I
I used to say the same thing.
The reality is that regardless of your job, you need to develop sales skills because you are selling every day. Let’s say your boss asked you how to improve the company website. In sharing your thoughts with your boss, you’re selling, you’re pitching your ideas. You need good sales skills.
This discussion about sales skills came up at a recent Toastmasters meeting. One member said she is uncomfortable talking about Toastmasters because it feels too salesy.
People go to Toastmasters because they want to
Sometimes they go to Toastmasters because their boss/spouse/friend says they need to.
My Toastmasters club’s mission is “to provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.” That’s the promise we make to potential members.
Potential members are our customers. They come to Toastmasters to develop their skills. We promise to help them develop those skills.
They have a need or problem; we have a solution for them.
When someone visits our club, they need to see if we are a good fit for them. With thousands of clubs in 142 countries, Toastmasters clubs vary a great deal. When guests come to our club, we want them to feel welcome and in a safe place. If we do that, they join us. That’s a “sale.”
Have you thought about improving your speaking skills? Check out your local Toastmasters clubs and find one that fits you. Realize that every Toastmaster started out where you are now.
Sales is really an exchange. Someone has a problem and needs a solution to that problem, and you have the solution. If you offer your solution to the person with the problem, that’s selling. When the person says, “OK, I’ll buy your solution,” that’s a sale.
As I write this, Mr. Smith is mowing our grass. I had a problem—our lawnmower doesn’t work, and the grass is growing fast. We needed someone with a solution—and Mr. Smith had it. We agreed on a price, and a sale was made. Mr. Smith gets money; we get a nicely mowed yard. We both walk away happy.
Your connotation of the word “sales” or “salesman” is probably colored by experiences you had when buying a car or a house or other big-ticket items. The word may give you a sensation of sleaziness or being pressured by someone like the guy in the picture above.
Sales people have a job, and that is to sell you their solution for your problem. They have quotas to meet—daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and year-end. If they meet or exceed their quota, they are rewarded. The rewards can be huge. If they don’t meet their quota, they can lose their job.
Let’s agree that you are not a sales person by the typical definition. But I have a few questions for you.
Then you’re in sales and you need to develop sales skills. If it makes you feel better, I’ll use “persuade” instead of “sell.”
In any of those three options, you need to seriously consider what problems your boss, team, or client has. This requires you to think deeply about their problems, wants, concerns, and needs—something I learned from my coach years ago.
Here is how this exercise goes
Make a table with four columns and label the columns “problems,” “concerns,” “wants,” and “needs.” For this exercise, I will use the word “client” to represent anyone you are trying to persuade. I will refer to these questions as PCWN.
Ask yourself these questions.
For each of those questions, write down at least 5 answers. Don’t quit at two or three—that’s easy thinking. Force yourself to get 5 answers at least; my coach used to make me do 10 per question.
Truthfully, I hated this exercise, but it is so effective. If you do deep thinking, you’ll come up with answers you’ve not thought of and surprise your client with the depth of your understanding for him/her.
Once you’ve been through this process, you will be much more at ease in talking with your client. Why? Because you will understand where they’re coming from. And, with luck, you can empathize and not feel like some sleazy salesman.
Some people thrive on competition and beating others. If that’s you, you will likely do well in a persuasive role.
I don’t like competing with others; I prefer to compete with myself. My thinking goes like this: I know I can sell $X in consulting, because I’ve done that repeatedly in the past. This time, I’m going to set my targets higher and go for more. That’s competing against myself.
Regardless of who your competition is, the point is to set goals. Make sure they’re SMART goals. See this blog.
Starting something new—learning new skills—is a great time to keep a journal. You’ll have good days and not-so-good days. Record what you did and how you felt regardless of the outcomes. Then when you have a bad day, you can look back at the good days and find the energy to go out and try again.
Also, when you meet someone at a networking event, you learn a lot about them—at least if you’re doing more listening than talking. Make notes of what you’ve learned about this person in your journal. Is their son in college or grade school? Do they play golf or tennis? Where did they go to college? You get the idea.
Over my many years in business, I have been blessed to remember personal information about people years after I meet them. The next time I see them, I can ask about their six kids or if they’re still enjoying the house on the lake or whatever. This goes a long way in renewing a relationship that hasn’t been active for some time.
This can be tough for those who aren’t born with sales skills.
When you are pitching an idea or a solution, you want to hear “yes” or “no.” If the answer is “yes,” you can celebrate. If the answer is “no,” you can say “thank you” and move on. If the answer is “maybe,” you’ll have to spend time checking back in with your boss/team/client. The time you are spending doing that is time you can’t spend going after another “yes.”
Very few people go off to college with the idea of becoming a sales person. But they find themselves having to do it anyway.
Regardless of your education level or the field you work in, learning to improve your persuasive powers will enhance your career path. If you have good people skills and are willing to take on business development or relationship building or sales, your career options increase greatly.
Click on this book to buy it from Amazon and greatly increase your understanding of the power of persuasion.
I know, you aren’t a sales person, but hopefully I’ve made the case for you developing some sales skills. How can you do that?
Check online, of course. Here are some reputable firms that offer training. Prices and offerings differ a lot, so check them out thoroughly. Some offer training online. By the way, Toastmasters is extremely affordable.
Dale Carnegie
AMA
Sandler
Pryor
Read these books. (Click on the picture to order from Amazon.)
© Pamela A. Scott, MentorLoft.com, 2016
Updated May 2017
