3 Unmissable Tips when seeking to Sell or Persuade.

A number of people have recently told me that they “can’t sell” or find it hard to sell themselves.

The fact is that we are constantly selling;

• We sell others on our vision or ideas.
• We sometimes have to sell (negotiate or persuade) partners or our children to see things differently.
• We do it at interview - when WE are the product.
• We use sales skills in leading teams, managing projects and communicating with stakeholders.

So why do people still have a problem with sales when they’ve been doing it all their lives?

I love every aspect of sales – the whole exchange and process, the ‘getting to know you’ - and the kick you get when you’ve satisfied ‘the buyers’ needs and delivered on your promise.

Sales should be a pleasurable and mutually beneficial transaction, not a battle of wills.

As a Leadership trainer, sales doesn’t stop when you’re delivering your content. For the material to be fully embedded with delegates, they need to know why it fits their needs and what tangible outcomes they can expect. Therefore, your delivery needs to be highly targeted, persuasive and benefits-driven.

This is especially true as when you’re delivering to mixed audiences. I had one group which ranged from CEO’s, VP’s and Company Owners, right the way through to Receptionists. Everyone arrived with high expectations, meaning I had about 3-5 minutes to set the energy, capture my audience, help them understand what’s in it for them and calibrate my delivery.

Even when you’re challenging your delegates to grow, you’re still selling them on the benefits. This is how you seamlessly help people to step out of their comfort zone.

There are 3 key areas to selling; people, solving problems and value.

People:

You need to love (or at least like) and want to understand others. This fascination and curiosity enables you to ask the right questions, for example:

• what motivates them?
• what result are they looking for?
• why now?
• what matters to them (and what doesn’t)?
• what benefit will it/you bring them?
• what makes you/your product or service, stand out from the rest?

I ask these kinds of questions before and at interview, as they help me to get vital context and see whether we might be a good fit for each other.

Using systems like Myers-Briggs and DISC can help, as will cultivating Emotional Intelligence and Empathy. Once learnt, these skills can have far-reaching personal benefits both in the workplace and our personal lives.

Self-awareness is a key attribute of some of the best sales people. Not only do they actively seek to ‘know themselves’ better, they are also open to learning and focused on growth.

Understanding yourself helps you to understand others.

People buy People. Just as importantly, people must feel like they know you (so give them some interesting, true facts, stories and examples). This helps them like and trust you. One of the best ways for them to know you is if they feel connected to you in some way; try and find shared experiences.

Sales is only about relationships when you’ve done the work to establish them. Being authentic speeds up the process.

Sales people (or persuaders) possess the ability to listen deeply, deliberately and intentionally.

Spending more time listening than speaking helps you find the answers to questions like those above, seamlessly come up with new ones and gain vital information. This is what helps you solve the problem.

The Problem:

Everyone has a problem that needs solving;

• Losing weight
• Finding the right candidate for a vacancy
• Improving communication with a partner or children
• Skin creams to look younger…

The list is endless.

Underneath these problems is where the magic lies and to reach it, you need to ask questions. People don’t want to lose weight for the sake of it. They do it because they want to attract a partner for example, which could mean that they get the love and companionship they’ve been craving, which could increase their confidence. This could mean that they are more likely to put themselves ‘out there’ and go for a job that they couldn’t see themselves succeeding at before.

So ‘the problem’ is never only what it appears to be.

Someone might need to up-skill on Emotional Intelligence otherwise they risk losing their job. Maybe they got to that point because they were ultimately dissatisfied in their work or personal lives – in which case up-skilling might not solve ‘the problem’. I had a case where someone was taking a communication skills course to gain respect.

If you’re passionate about solving ‘the problem’, it’s your duty to seek out people’s deeper motivations. Because sales is never about selling, it’s only about being of service.

When you’re at your next appraisal or job interview, think in terms of deeper motivators, and how you can satisfy them.

The Value:

If you’re selling YOU, think hard about what makes you unique. What tangible value can you bring to the table, and how will that benefit the customer or organisation? You might be a great trainer, but you’re not one-dimensional. Maybe it’s your creativity, your commercial experience, your ability to react calmly and think on your feet, or your fascination with neuroscience. Harness all of your experience and focus on what makes you different, then translate that into a tangible value for the client, linking it back to their ‘problem’.

Find out about the Organisation’s values, and if one or two of yours match, focus in on that. It helps build bridges.

If you’re selling a product or service, think about the true value it represents and link it back to ‘the people’ and ‘the problem’. Use your audience or customer’s language, talk to them about how the benefits might make them feel; what would be different, what could be avoided and what could (if appropriate) stay the same. Take away the risk so the decision making becomes easy.

Lastly, I’ll mention open-ness. Linked to everything we’ve talked about, it enables you to have real conversations with people. Only with open-ness is solving 'the problem' and delivering true value possible. This is because people generally respond in the same way, creating faster know-like-trust and ultimately allowing you to be the one they give their business, or the job to.

To summarise, think of sales as a dynamic mix of people, problems, value, open-ness and being of service. 

Alison Roberts is an ex-entrepreneur with 35 years’ experience as a Global L&D Leadership Consultant, Sales Director/Trainer, Account Manager, Executive & Business Mentor and Public Speaker. She is passionate about Women in Leadership and specialises in developing and empowering future leaders and high-potentials. She is at her best when solving complex problems and challenging the status quo. Connect with Alison on LinkedIn and Facebook

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