Big Idea 2015: Become A "Real" Sales Professional

The new year brings the perfect opportunity to change and try new ideas to help improve work and business. You have a fresh start, a total blank year to re define who you are and who you want to be. So now is the best time to look at the way you sell and how you can change that to improve your results and keep up with the changing times.

Sales can very easily become forced or fake, with the pressures of high targets, the sale generally becoming harder to achieve, and sales people not putting in the right amount of work. So for 2015 I think we should make selling a lot more Real. Be honest with your business, your expectations and the targets you set. Make sure you create an environment for your sales staff to succeed, give them the right tools and manage them in a way that brings out the best in them. For sales people, put in the hard work and graft that it takes to succeed. Don't wait for the phone to ring! Be honest and realistic with your customers. Understand their needs, take the time to get to know them as people and not just a number or value. Don't sell, help them buy.

Like baking the perfect cake, it all comes down to choosing the right ingredients, following the best recipe, and putting in the hard work. Make sure you have the right sales tools, the right data or target audience, follow a good sales process and daily/weekly plan, put in the hard work and keep at it. Do it right and you will get the perfect sale(or cake)!

Here are my top tips to make sales and recruitment more Real in 2015:

1) Find Real Customers - I'm sure in some way, everyone could be your customer. But in 2015, find real customers. Take the time to find customers that your product or service really can benefit, and who have more of a chance of buying from you.

Instead of making millions of cold calls and filling millions of inboxes with emails hoping to find that one customer, take the time to find key potential customers and put more care into the communication with them. Social media is a great tool for this, especially LinkedIn. You can find a company and find the staff who work there, look for your target decision maker and make contact. Just by being more focused and by targeting the right customers, you should be able to get a better return on your prospecting.

2) Look For The Real Reason The Customer Wants To Buy - If a customer comes up to you and asks for your product, it is very easy to count your lucky stars, process the sale and move on. However, why did they buy it? What are they using it for? Who else do they know that could benefit from it? Ask more questions and make sure you listen. We all miss so much key information because we are too

busy trying to sell something we don't take the time to stop, listen and talk. Take away the pressure, take away the fact you want to sell something, and find out why and what they want to buy. Consultative selling isn't a new idea, but it is one that is growing in popularity, both by customer and with sales professionals. You will unlock so many more potential opportunities if you create better, more detailed and long lasting relationships with your customers.

3) Create A Real Solution - A customer will buy when they perceive the value of what they are buying to be greater than what they are paying. So find real solutions for your customers. When you are in recruitment, it can't just be about putting anyone into any job, take the time and find the right person. If you are selling a product, make sure you add value in any way you can and create a bespoke solution for your customer. One of the biggest values you can add is YOU. Use 2015 to put a real emphasis on your solutions, the value you personally can add to what you sell. What can you do differently to your competition that will encourage the customer to buy from you and not them. If you personally can't sell the product or service that they need at that time, help them find a suitable alternative. They will still always come back to you because you would have earned that trust, and hopefully the next time they will buy from you or recommend someone to you.

4) Do A Real Days Work - Whether you work 8 hours a day, 12, 14, make the most of that time. How much time do you actually do work that achieves an outcome or is working towards an outcome? Do you work hard, or smart? So many people work long hours, but actually if they were to look at what they did and organize it better, could they actually work less and achieve more?

You are accountable for what you achieve in a day, so with that in mind, you can actually determine whether you have a good day or a bad day! Imagine how much more you could achieve if you had a tidy office? An organized week that was all planned around hitting your targets, where very few barriers would stop you achieving it? Like that recipe for the perfect cake, there is a recipe for the perfect day and week, which will all create a perfect month (where you hit target!).

5) Have Real Conversations - We all like it when our friends and family take the time to call us or visit us. When they sit and talk about us, and listen to what we say. The same applies for your customers or potential customers. Everyone prefers a Real phone call that includes a Real conversation, as appose to sales call that focuses around someone only trying to sell something. It also takes the pressure away for you, instead of sweating next to the phone dreading dialing your next number, you can just think of it as a nice chat. You're just phoning someone up to get to know them, let them know what you do and see whether you can do business together. Take away the pressure, have a Real conversation and you will get Real results.

By making sales more Real, by making it more honest and transparent, not only can we enjoy selling more but our customers will enjoy buying more. Start each day in 2015 determined to make more connections, to use the tools such as social media to find the right people to connect with. Take pride in the strong relationships you will build with your customers, and the detail you will get to know about them that your competition won't. Find out why they are buying and earn that trust that will encourage them to buy from you again and again. Find good solutions for your customers that not only solver their problems or help them, but that add value as well. Be a part of the product you sell, provide a service that no one else can. Use 2015 to organize your desk and office, to plan your days and weeks, and create that recipe that will help you achieve your targets. And have open and positive conversations with everyone you speak too.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, If you enjoy this post please do like it and share it with your connections, and all comments are welcome. Together lets make sales a more positive experience and make 2015 our best year yet!