30 SALES LESSONS LEARNED IN 20 YEARS

20 YEARS IN SALES HAVE TAUGHT ME:

1. If you don't change, you die

2. Nobody likes to be sold, but everyone likes to buy

3. A sale is not finalized when the order is paid, but when the client is happy with the outcome of his /her purchase.

4. The marketing jargon doesn't work in a face to face conversation with real clients.

5. The more you speak, the least chances you have to understand your clients' needs.

6. Competence is dynamic. What you know today is likely to be obsolete tomorrow.

7. Machines are better than humans in lots of tasks, sales included. Let's not fight them, but try and leverage them.

8. Discount alone is a bold statement that says "I don't know how much I'm worth".

9. The marketplace does NOT reward time, commitment nor sacrifice. It rewards the simplest solution to its more compelling (and complex) problems.

10. Human needs haven't changed. But 1 billion people have moved up Maslow's' hierarchy of needs (check it here if you don't know it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs)

11. People pay premium prices when they see value in what they buy, and value is in the eye of the beholder.

12. Without self-confidence you'll never be able to sell.

13. Without believing in what you sell, you'll never able to display (and build) self-confidence.

14. Selling is not an art, nor rocket science. It's. however, a complex and ever-changing job too many people underestimate.

15. Without sales, there is NO business. This needs to be refreshed- periodically - to the other corporate functions.

16. No matter how rationally clients think they make buying decisions, they will always have their emotions in the way.

17. Most of the times, it is not what you said that makes you win the sale, but what you haven't said.

18. In sales, and in life, you don't get what you (think you) deserve. You get what you ask for (which is a metaphor for what you earn) 

19. People don't necessarily buy from salespeople they like. But if they don't like you, they will do everything they can NOT TO buy from you.

20. 20% knowledge + 80% common sense are enough to make you stand out from the crowd.

21. Salespeople who don't invest their money, but only spend it, miss the big picture of what business is about and end up performing averagely when not poorly.

22. Door to door selling is dead. Cold calling is dead. Yet, you must be able to perform them well because what's going on today is an evolution of them, and you need to know the foundations of your craft.

23. Arrogance won't take you anywhere in the long run and it's one of the most unforgivable sins. Even more unforgivable when you hide behind a big name (or brand) you have done ZERO to create

24. Happy clients finance your business. Unhappy clients who give you honest feedback, make it grow.

25. If you don't know how to collect, digest, and respond to FEEDBACK, you won't survive long in the marketplace.

26. If you want to sell or to sell in a luxurious way, you have to enhance client experience at EACH and EVERY TOUCHPOINT

27. If I'm still doing the same thing in two years, the way I do it now, I'm just fooling myself.

28. In the era of information, clients don't have to be convinced, but reassured.

29. Your reputation is your only asset.

30. Being right in an argument, and making a sales are two different things. And often they don't go together.