Selling your way to success – my top tips
Gavin J Gallagher
Managing Director at EastPoint | Commercial Portfolio Manager | Speaker | Podcast Host | Property Investment Mentor
If you want success in any aspect of your career, then being able to master the sales process is critical.
And I’m not just talking about selling material products. Let's face it: in order to do anything nowadays you have to be able to sell yourself to other people. If you're trying to get a pay rise at work, you have to convince the boss that you add value to the businesss; if you’re trying to raise funds for your business, going to the bank for a mortgage or doing business with investors– you have to be able to sell them the benefits of investing in you.
I really do believe this a key skill that could really elevate your career or really any aspect of what you're trying to do in life. So here are my top tips!
Play nice with the other kids
If you can’t interact and build rapport with a potential associate, then you’re sunk. The ability to authentically build relationships is a key skill in sales and always has been. That’s been made somewhat harder in recent times by the use of email, Whatsapp or other messaging platforms more and more to interact, which makes it harder to get your personality across. Nuance and tone is often lost in the written word… something you might think is funny or sharp could completely miss the mark with someone who doesn’t know you. ?
Where possible, look for opportunities to speak to someone face to face, or at least on the phone. If that’s something that makes you nervous – practise! I think that a lot of younger people have spent so much time on social media that they're nervous of speaking on the phone, so it’s an important skill to develop.
If someone can really get to know you and what kind of person you are, it stands you in far better stead than someone who communicates solely via email.
Don’t sell, encourage
Back in the pre-internet days, people didn't have as much access to information prior to an initial meeting. They didn’t know much about you, your business or your product, so you really had to do a lot of what might feel like ‘traditional’ sales - explaining to them what the product was and why it was better than your competitors.
Nowadays, there's so much information available online for somebody to do their own research that buyers have become a lot savvier. You're not really introducing them to what you’re selling, it’s more like you're trying to encourage them and assure them that your service or product is the one that they should be investing in.
Do your own research
As I said above, people like to know how something is going to benefit them. You might have the most fantastic product, or be the best person for a job, payrise or promotion, but all your potential customer/investor is interested in is how you or your product are going to make their life better or easier: people are far more likely to invest in something when they can see that there’ll be a tangible positive impact.
This means you need to do some research on the person you’re selling to. Dig around on the web, see if you can find anything helpful on their LinkedIn profile or from their social media. If you’re selling a product (rather than yourself), take a look at the company website and learn more about them. It’s all very well walking into the room with a prepared presentation but that’s no use if it doesn’t address anything your customer is looking for! Which leads me to my next point…
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Learn to listen
You have two ears, so learn to listen twice as much you speak!
Of course, you’ll want to try and say as much from your prepared presentation script as possible, but it's key to ask questions and properly listen to the answers. Listen to the customer’s needs and pain points and if you can find out one key thing that your product or service has over and above your competitor, zone in on it! You'll only find out that information if you’re listening. If you constantly talk over somebody, they're just going to get annoyed.
If you're listening to them (rather than just waiting for a gap in the conversation so that you can talk again), you can actually figure their needs and motivations out very quickly. Don’t go in with rigid expectations, saying ‘this is the deal, this is how it has to be’: make sure that you give them a chance to talk. If you haven't listened at all to what they're looking for, you find you’re trying to sell a lemon to someone who wants to buy an orange.
Body language counts more than you think
Whenever you go into a meeting, you have to be aware of your body language and what unconscious messages you might be giving off. Walk into the room confidently, whether you are or not!
Again, this is something you can practise. Look at yourself in a mirror and look yourself in the eye – develop that confident persona!
Don’t go in with your arms crossed or slouching – this can come across really negatively. ?It’s imperative to have a good strong handshake: there’s nothing worse than shaking someone’s hand and it feels like a wet sponge.
You make not feel confident in the moment, but you have to pretend that you are. There are a lot of shy people who out themselves in the limelight by coming on podcasts or sitting on panels, or something else that takes them out of their comfort zone – so practise stepping outside of yours.
Learn to accept rejection
It might sound pessimistic, but learning how to accept rejection is a really important part of the sales process: every rejection provides an opportunity to learn and refine your approach. It also helps you become more resilient - accepting rejection will also build emotional intelligence, allowing you to maintain positive rapport even when someone is saying ‘No’.
Over time, you’ll find that being able to gracefully handle rejection not only strengthens your skills but also gives you a better understanding of customer needs and preferences. Remember, each rejection is a stepping stone towards future successes, making the sales journey more effective and rewarding.
I hope you’ve found this useful! Developing your ability to sell is a critical skill that will really set you on the path to success. I took a deep-dive on the topic in conversation with Marc ODwyer on Episode 76 of the podcast, so do take a listen if you’d like to learn more ????