The Secret of Sales Success? Always Be Learning!

I recently had the pleasure of connecting and having a conversation with Scott Balestrier , CEO of SolomonEdwards Group. While we were discussing what we think makes people so successful in sales and business development, Scott said something that really resonated with me: he said that the truly strong and most successful people are the ones who are students of their clients and their own firm. Scott makes a great point, and I absolutely agree that being a student and figuring out ways to help – not sell – is what being successful in sales is all about.

No One Likes to Be Sold Anything

When working with BDU’s clients, I continually remind them that no one wants to be sold anything. Trying to “sell” is exactly how salespeople get a bad reputation. It brings to mind that pushy used car salesman who just wants to close the deal no matter what. Salespeople need to stop trying to sell their stuff. Instead, they need to focus on determining how they can offer a solution that can help their prospects and clients.

How do we know what’s going to be helpful for them? This is where Scott’s philosophy of always being a student comes in; it is critical that as a salesperson you’re always learning, asking questions, and gathering information so you can get a good understanding of your client's organization, as well as your own. This way, you’ll be well versed in everything your company has to offer, how they can help and the best way to position them. You’ll also be able to figure out if there are additional ways you could be helping other than what you’re already providing.

How You Can Uncover Opportunities

Not sure how you can be a student of your existing clients or customers? Regularly schedule blue sky or check-in review meetings to:

1.????? Assess their level of satisfaction with you, your products or services, and your company.

2.????? Learn their key priorities and goals, as well as the importance of these initiatives and the results they are hoping to achieve.

3.????? Uncover share-of-the-wallet information to determine who else they are buying from or working with, and what portion of their business you are currently getting.

4.????? Probe into additional areas you might be able to offer help or support that could have an impact on their success.

5.????? Find out if there are any other contacts, departments, divisions, or sister organizations that it might make sense to bring into the meeting or have them introduce you to.

To uncover opportunities, it’s also important to be a student of your own company. While many companies or firms offer multiple products or services, it’s not uncommon for salespeople to only be knowledgeable about a handful of them.

If we don’t completely understand what we can offer and provide, it makes it difficult to ask the proper questions necessary to uncover areas of opportunity.

Two Examples of Successful Sales Students

About 20 years ago, I was working with a printing rep who at the time was selling $3 million of printing. When I asked her what she would like her goal to be, she said that she wanted to sell another $300,000 worth of services. I asked her to provide me with a breakdown of her existing customers and saw that one was buying $1.5 million worth of printing a year with her. I asked her for the total amount they were spending on printing per year for the whole company and she wasn’t sure; she just knew that she had a piece of their printing work but not the whole account. I encouraged her to have a meeting with her customer to learn their entire printing costs for the year, and she found out they were spending $3 million total. She ended up going after just 1/5 of the $1.5 million she wasn’t already providing for them, which equaled her additional $300K goal. She was successful in obtaining that business, and she learned that by being a student, asking the right questions and exploring additional opportunities with a current client, she could easily achieve her goal.

I’ve seen another client recently find success by being a student. We do a lot of work with distributors at BDU, and one company we work with has around ten different lines of business. For the past 6 months, they've been conducting blue sky meetings with their existing clients. When they schedule these meetings, they let the client know they’d like to take a tour of the facility when they come out. What they've found is that having an opportunity to observe and make note of what they see around the building has been a game changer for their sales. They’re able to see what supplies are being used and what equipment might need updating for efficiency so they can then offer additional products and make recommendations based on their observations.

The Philosophy of “Kaizen”

“Kaizen” means “continuous improvement,” and it’s a philosophy that we at BDU strive to embody and teach our clients. It’s so important to always look for ways you can learn, grow, and improve, and as sales and business development professionals we need to stay up to date and build our knowledge base. Finding opportunities for “continuous improvement” and being a student of both our clients and our companies allows us to determine more ways we can help instead of sell. In turn, we’ll increase our share of the wallet, offer new products and services to current accounts, and ultimately significantly grow our sales and revenues.