Whatever your mindset is around selling, every business needs it. You need to sell your product or service in order to stay open, so why are so many business owners afraid of ‘selling’?
Many of the business owners I talk to state that some of the reasons they don’t put as much focus on their sales process are:
- Lack of confidence around selling
- Fear of rejection or setbacks
- Lack of knowledge around which sales method they should adopt
- Lack of time to spend developing a sales strategy
A lot of these obstructions are caused by having the wrong attitude towards sales. Having a positive attitude sounds great, but sometimes it’s easier said than done, especially at the moment when there’s so much going on in all our lives. To maintain a positive attitude no matter what, we must learn to control our thoughts and understand the impact that our thoughts can have on our productivity.
Here’s some things you can do to try and achieve a positive attitude, which will help you to succeed in your sales process:
- Be solution-focused
When something goes wrong, it’s easy to immediately become negative, but the longer you dwell on a problem, the worse it gets and the worse you feel. So, next time you have a problem to solve, flip your thinking and immediately write down a list of possible solutions.
- Educate yourself
Remember Albert Einstein’s well-known quote? “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
To ensure you are getting better results, you need to try something different right? So, educate yourself on different sales methods, and find what works for you.
- Work on building confidence
If confidence is your biggest barrier, listen to a podcast or read a book around building confidence and creating a positive mindset. Often, you’ll find that once your mindset begins to shift, things that felt scary or unachievable before, now seem possible. Todd Herman’s The Alter Ego Effect is a great book for building confidence and unlocking your true potential.
Appearing confident with potential customers is also important. If you do not exude confidence in your ability to provide a solution for them with your product or service, how can you expect them to have the confidence to buy?
- Know exactly why people would want to buy from you
Basically, what makes your product or service special. What’s the USP that makes you stand out from your competitors? If you can answer that question with confidence and without hesitation, then it shows potential buyers that you genuinely believe in your product or service and it addresses their wants and needs. Donald Miller’s Marketing Made Simple guide is a great place to start in creating your storyboard for your sales and marketing strategy.
- Keep a customer-centric attitude
Your sales pitch or messaging shouldn’t be about you. It should be about your customer.
Take a moment to complete a quick task and complete the table below for your business and refer to it each time you create an advert, social media post or sales campaign.
- Set goals
Set clear SMART goals for your sales process. What do you want to achieve and what actions will you take to achieve it? Goals will give you a clear focus and something to consistently work towards. Make these visible in your workplace so that you have a regular reminder of where you are heading.
- Listen!
Listening is a big part of the sales process. You need to listen to your potential customers in order to understand their problem so that you can provide the right solution for them. If you talk at them until they buy, most likely they will walk away with buyer’s remorse and a bad feeling towards you and your business.
- Accept that failure is part of the process
You will face setbacks and rejections during the sales process, and this can be particularly difficult when your business is a service that you personally offer, but you must remind yourself that rejections are not personal. To develop a positive mindset, you need to accept that setbacks and failures are part of the process, not all potential customers will want what you are offering at that time.
Part of getting a rejection is to assess whether anything could have been done differently. Did you respond to their enquiry in a timely manner? Did you convey all of the solutions you can provide to address their problems, wants and needs? If a competitor won the sale, look at their branding, visibility and messaging to see if you can make any improvements.
Don’t let rejections dull your enthusiasm, remember that everyone has setbacks and it’s just part of the process.
If you still need support with your sales process, get in touch for an informal chat to see how we can help you create a sales process that will see you gain more customers and increase your profits!
