The Art of Selling

A big delusion in sales is the idea that selling is pure science. If selling was just a science we could say that anyone with proper systematic knowledge is capable of making correct predictions and achieve defined outcomes. This suggestion assumes that people respond predictably to sales techniques & processes or selling systems and if followed strictly by the sales persons, anything could be sold to anybody. However, one should always consider different people:

concepts of reality, including perceptions, perspectives, values, beliefs, etc.;
internal issues that need to be identified, understood and managed (i.e. change management);
individual competencies, such as perspective taking and decision making;
level of need awareness: conscious, preconscious, or unconscious;
States of readiness to buy, for example latent, passive, and exclusionary wants.

Furthermore, micro and macro economical changes can unexpectedly and dramatically affect the financial stability and thus the priorities of needs not only to an individual, but to whole countries. That is why being a successful sales person requires not only acquiring a systematic knowledge, but also completing a proper sales training and developing specific qualities in order to become a master in sales.

Below is a compiled list of tips worth considering by anyone who wants to improve their sales skills.

1. Learn how to be comfortable interacting with others and talking with people you have never meet.
2. Consider taking a sales training course.
3. Become self-confident in your ability to speak effectively and sincerely about your product or service. Believe that your customers will be better off because of what you have sold them.
4. Seek mentors who have been successful in sales or sales management.
5. Remember: Everyone is a sales person to some extent and nothing happens in any company until something is sold.
6. Observe how a sales professional handles preparations and objections before taking an active sales role.
7. Be a good listener and remember that you cannot sell anything if you don't listen to and understand the needs of your buyers.
8. Consider the possibility that you may be more qualified than you realise.
9. Find out who your competitors are and examine the merits and pitfalls of their products. You will be selling against them.
10. Know your products and their advantages over those of your competitors.
11. Be comfortable and confident in what you are saying over the phone. Keep notes in front of you so that unexpected questions won’t throw you off your agenda.
12. Be prepared to handle rejection. It's hard to take in the beginning. Once you gain confidence though, it ought to be a motivator.
13. Learn how to deal with objections to setting appointments or resistance to buying your products, and learn how to close the sale.
14. Know that a sale is always being made. Either you sell the advantages of buying and a sale is made or your prospect sells you the reasons for not buying and you lose the deal.
Sales training courses develop the skills and understanding needed to master the art of selling. Combined with marketing techniques, PR and advertising applications, the sales person will broaden their perspective, skill set and knowledge in the marketing of products/services for the consumer, industrial and service sectors. Griffith College offers such a course: Diploma in Marketing, Advertising, PR & Sales.

In addition, sales persons can also take advantage of Griffith College’s Online Marketing course. This course becomes a necessity for sales persons, considering the constantly increasing percentage of people shopping or browsing online and the opportunities the Internet gives to expand sales areas worldwide.