The TRUE Secret To Sales Success...

Only a very small percentage of salespeople achieve REAL success...

After working with and leading hundreds of salespeople, as well as working with some of the best sales experts out there, here is what I believe is the secret to real success.

It all comes down to balance.

There are, in my experience, 3 types of salespeople.

It's actually just like the famous kids story, Goldilocks and the 3 bears! Instead of Goldilocks being presented with 3 bowls of porridge, one being too hot, one being too cold and one being just right, imagine a Sales Manager being presented with 3 salespeople:

Too Pushy - These are the salespeple who talk too much, don't listen to their customers, put lots of pressure on them, get stressed easily, only try to sell products. They often work too hard but never work smart

Too Soft - On the other end of the spectrum, these are the salespeople who listen way too much, are too scared to ever close a deal, they wait for leads to come to them, the focus too much on building relationships and often get friend-zoned by prospects.

And Just Right.

This is where the secret to real sales success comes in.

It's finding the sweet spot inbetween not being too pushy but also not being too soft.

You need to have the motivation and drive of a salesperson, but with the balance of empathy and genuine desire to help. You need to listen and build relationships, but still be able to guide, influence and feel confident in closing the deal.

IT'S ALL ABOUT BALANCE!

This is where, in my experience, most salespeople go wrong. They slip into either end of the spectrum and unfortunately miss out on so many opportunities because of it.

A large percentage of salespeople become too pushy...

They succumb to the pressure of sales and become pushy towards their prospects and customers, often looking for end of month deals, discounts and anything that they believe will incentivise their prospect to buy. They vommit features and benefits to anyone who will listen to them in the hope that the prospect will suddenly want their product.

They're often the ones who badger people on the phone, send spammy copy and paste LinkedIn messages and ultimately only care about getting the sale.

They're also the ones who fail the "Sell me this pen" activity...

When asked to sell the pen, they're the ones who will start making up random claims about how amazing that pen is as in their head that's what they believe selling is, trying to essentially pursuade someone to buy your product.

Another large percentage of salespeople are too soft...

They focus too much on relationships, spend way too long working on deals, they don't want to interupt people and they certainly don't want to "sell". They're usually scared of closing sales and certainly don't enjoy outbound prospecting, they just want people to come to them when they're ready to buy.

They're great at making friends, but not so great at making customers.

They often have HUGE pipelines but yet never hit target come the end of the month. They'll also have opportunities that sit in their pipeline for months and months on end, when in reality they should have been taken off long ago.

This is where the TRUE secret to sales success comes in...

You need to find the sweet spot inbetween "too pushy" and "too soft". When you can find that spot, you'll find real sales success.

Here are the core traits a truly successful sales professional has:

• They are HUNGRY to sell. They've got a burning fire inside them, a hunter instinct to go out and find sales. They are driven to sell pure and simple.
• They genuinely want to HELP. They know the key to sales isn't to sell ice to an eskimo who doesn't actually need ice, but to sell it to someone who does. Solving problems creates happy long term customers.
• They are ALWAYS prospecting. They're always on the hunt for new opportunities and are always working hard to fill up their pipeline with good, qualified opportunities.
• They're not looking for friends, they're looking for CUSTOMERS. They know the importance of building strong relationships, but relationships that lead to business.
• They know when to LISTEN and when to talk. They ask the right questions, offer the right input but also know when to stop talking and let their customers talk.

The customer should NEVER feel like they're being sold to, but you should ALWAYS feel like a salesperson.

People do not like being sold to, so your customers should never ever feel like they're being sold to. That being said, you should always be in control and always feel like a salesperson. You need to always be looking for ways to progress an opportunity and get the deal done.

So when you're selling this month, just think about where on the spectrum you are right now, then try to get as close to that middle sweet spot as you can.

You want to help people, you want to listen, you want to build strong relationships but you also understand that to actually help them, they'll need your solution. You're there to help guide them through the process and then help them solve that problem.

That is TRUE selling.

Good, honest, authentic PROFESSIONAL selling.

If you work hard to be a true professional salesperson, let me know in the comments!

I'm keen to show the world that there are lots of salespeople who genuinely want to help their customers. These are the people that the industry should be judged on, not the bad salespeople that give sales a bad name.

Thank you for reading this blog! If you enjoyed it please do click LIKE and click SHARE to share it with your network.

If you enjoyed this post please take time to read some of my other recent posts.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator Is Like Going To The The Gym...

Just Pick Up The Phone and Call!

The ABC Of Social Selling

The Modern Day Sales Prospecting Stack

The 10 Things That Will NEVER Change In Sales

About the author: 

Daniel Disney is one of the world's leading Sales, Social Selling and LinkedIn experts. With over 15 years sales experience, Daniel has mastered how to use social media to generate exceptional results, both in social engagement and in revenue generated. His brand new Online Social Selling Masterclass Course is helping salespeople all over the world generate MORE sales with LinkedIn and Social Selling.

Daniel is also a highly in-demand international keynote sales speaker, is the UK's leading sales blogger and is also the Founder and Owner of LinkedIn's most popular sales publication, The Daily Sales. With an audience of over 450,000+ followers and growing by thousands each week, his content reaches millions of salespeople far and wide.

To inquire about Daniel keynoting or speaking at your company or event, or to find out more about his 1-day and online LinkedIn/Social Selling Masterclass please email [email protected].

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