So, as part of my many and various roles over the years I have had the pleasure and indeed the privilege of helping junior staff members along the rocky road of the early career, and in so doing I have come to one or two conclusions. Now, bear in mind that my background is pretty much straight sales. I don’t hold much with this current business development stuff, it’s sales, get over it and move on, but that’s another rant for another post. I mention it because coming from a sales background, most of the training and mentoring that I have done has been based around sales, and that’s telesales, inbound and outbound, with a little customer service, just ‘cause I could, account management, internal and external, field sales, the whole ball of wax when it comes to sales, and for my sins I love it. I love the thrill of the chase, the exciting as a deal closes, the awwwww noooo moment of the one that got away and having to pick yourself up and get on with the next deal, and I think it is that passion that has helped formulate my conclusions.
I got told early on, and I’ve been told many times since that sales people are born, not made, but my conclusion is that this is just so much hot air, propogated by people who just can’t train worth a damn! Anyone can sell, and sell well. The keys to successful selling are twofold. Firstly the ability to communicate and secondly the ability to be resilient. Lets have a look at these in a little more detail. Communication first, and the most important aspect of this is to remember that communication is a two way process and that listening is at least as important as talking. Sure, you may want to get the information you want to convey over to the potential customer as quickly as possible to move on to the next call and keep your call numbers up, but if you aren’t talking to your contact for at least five minutes you are probably wasting your time. People want to feel special and important and if you make them feel rushed they will never come across with the order you want from them. Take your time, understand your client, let them talk but stay in control of the conversation.
This latter part is just as important as having a two way conversation. Never forget you have a job to do. You need to get that sale or at least make progress towards it. This comes in a couple of parts. Whether or not you are in charge of the conversation is a function of the first few seconds of the phone call. Sound positive, sound efficient, sound businesslike and make sure your purpose is clear. If you can get this right your job is more than halfway done. The second part of this is to have a clear plan, possibly even a script worked out so that you are clear in how you want the conversation to go and where you want it to end up. If you can establish control and steer the conversation you stand a pretty good chance of getting what you want, and anyone can do this, we do it every day talking to family and friends, you just need to tweak and tailor it to a business setting.
The resilience can be far more of a stumbling block early on. It is true to say that to succeed in sales in the mid to long term you need to develop a thick skin, or at least to allow the calls that don’t go so well to wash off you like water off a ducks back rather than sitting on your shoulders dragging you down. Each call is unique and once a call is done, make the notes you need then clear any negativity from your mind before you make the next call. You’d be amazed how easily people pick up on someone having a bad day, whether on the phone or face to face so don’t give your client the opportunity. There is a saying in telesales, dial with a smile, and that isn’t just hot air, it really does make a difference. Be expansive with your gestures, even though the other person can’t see them, it will make your end of the conversation feel more natural and less stilted and can make a tremendous difference. So can changing your position can help to, standing up for example, or sitting up properly in your chair. It may sound silly but try it, it really works.
These are things that anyone can be trained to improve in, and to be successful at, irrespective of background or confidence level or experience. When training and particularly mentoring take time, don’t rush things, don’t get impatient, and above all take every opportunity to give positive feedback. It makes giving the necessary negative so much easier for the trainee to take in and absorb.
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