Softer Side of Selling | Page 2 of 15 | Secrets of the Softer Side of Selling

Great Salespeople: Born or Made?

01/28/2021 By Don Crawford Leave a Comment

Are salespeople born with all the knowledge and skill needed to perform at the top of their profession? Of course not. I believe the fundamental qualities of a great salesperson are developed over time. So the answer is salespeople are made! When salespeople diligently practice their trade they master the important selling skills. Let’s begin with the foundation on which to build a great sales career: yourself. What qualities do great salespeople have?

Great salespeople learn their trade through diligent practice

Great Salespeople Are Made By Practicing Their Trade
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Three Fundamental Qualities Of A Great Salesperson

Ego strength, ego need and empathy. Great salespeople have healthy egos; either naturally or learned over the years. They are self-assured and confident. Being resilient in the face of rejection, defeat and lost sales yet keep on trying is the fundamental personality trait of great salespeople. Empathy, the ability to understand the customer, is fundamental to success in sales. In addition to these personality traits, great salespeople are driven to succeed. They use knowledge, attitude and behaviors to become the best they can be. Determined to achieve their dreams, great salespeople overcome any obstacles in their way….

Sales Skill: The Telephone

01/21/2021 By Don Crawford Leave a Comment

Great salespeople know the telephone is a time-tested tool for virtual selling. Even before the COVID pandemic changed the way “road warriors” had to sell, the telephone was the primary tool for salespeople. So now rather than the black phone with pushbutton dialing of years gone by you now have a mobile device. As powerful as these small digital devices are the telephone feature is still a practical sales tool.

Great Salespeople Master The Telephone Skill

The Telephone Is The Oldest Virtual Meeting Tool

Sure there are many ways to virtually contact prospects: direct mail, email, video chats to name a few. But for the great salesperson, the telephone is still the most powerful. And simple to use. Telephone conversations are real time dialogs. You can hear the nuances in the voice. And react to your prospects comments immediately. The phone is a salesperson’s most valuable tool because phone conversations move the qualification and sales process along quickly. You can create interest and desire real time using a phone. Often a successful phone conversation is the beginning of a mutually beneficial, long-term relationship….

Sales Skills: Using Compelling Stories

01/14/2021 By Don Crawford Leave a Comment

Every great salesperson has a collection of compelling stories. Some stories illustrate positive outcomes from using their product or service. Other stories challenge the status quo by describing consequences of not benefitting from a product or service. Compelling Stories give comfort to the prospect showing how others have benefitted from your product or service.

Great salespeople use compelling stories to highlight benefits

Compelling Stories Create Interest
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How To Tell Compelling Stories

Think about all the selling success you have. Each one of them resulted in a prospect changing their behavior in favor of your product or service. And they benefitted from the change. When they purchased your product or service they saved money, improved performance, or avoided a negative consequence.

So tell the story from the point of view of a successful customer outcome. Describe the problem you solved, how your product or service was applied and the benefit the customer experienced. Use words to paint the picture in your prospect’s mind. The story has a beginning which sets the stage by illustrating the current situation. In the middle is how the “hero” (you or your team) took on the “dragon” (the current situation). A strong ending leaves your prospect desperate to hear how you will save them from the “dragon.” Every great salesperson has a personal style of telling compelling stories. So tell stories in your own words, cadence and tone….

Sales Skills: Your Selling Tools Inventory

01/07/2021 By Don Crawford Leave a Comment

Well, it’s here. 2021 has begun. Are you ready? One way to check is to look at your selling tools inventory. Every one of us great salespeople have a particular skill set we use in each sales pursuit. So take a few minutes to think back over the successes in selling during the past year. What did you do well? What skills need improvement? And most importantly what skills don’t you have?

Great Salespeople Take A Sales Skill Inventory
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The Successful Selling Process

Great salespeople have a sales process which is proven and repeatable. Here’s mine: first I need to get prospects to like me enough to answer my questions. I call that building “rapport”. Next I want to find out whether they have a significant problem I can solve. That’s the “pain” step. Now I want to know if they have the “budget” to solve the problem. Throughout all of the sales pursuit I want to be dealing with the “decision maker.” When I’m sure I’m dealing with the decision maker and have determined they have a problem they want to solve and can commit funds to do it, I “ask for the order”!…

Time To Celebrate And Share Your Gifts

12/17/2020 By Don Crawford Leave a Comment

Today, December 17, is the day each year I celebrate and share the happiness of another birthday with family and friends. This and every other day I remember the gifts of knowledge and experience from my long career in sales. Each week I look back on the triumphs and challenges of that career. I choose one bit of knowledge or experience to share with you.

The Best Gifts Are The Ones You Give Because They Are Golden

The Best Gifts Are The Ones You Give
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

Why I Blog

I had a very rewarding 45-year career in sales. While I don’t own an island or even a beach house, I earned more than enough to raise a family and now have a comfortable retirement. The most valuable asset from 45 years of professional selling is the wisdom I gained.

During my career in sales I always sold technically complex products business to business. I know each sales opportunity is unique and each great salesperson has a particular style. But the fundamentals of good professional selling are applied every time we win an order. So in my blog I focus on the fundamental activities, behaviors and knowledge of great salesmanship….

Sales Skill: Learning From Past Lessons

12/10/2020 By Don Crawford 2 Comments

To say 2020 was a different year is an understatement. But great salespeople have always used past lessons to prepare for the future. This past year presented many new lessons. We learned to work in an environment with a pandemic virus. We learned to help customers pivot because of the pandemic. And we found new opportunities. Great salespeople use past lessons finding a way to overcome adversity.

Great salespeople learn from past lessons.

What Are The Lessons You Learned This Year?
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The Big Lesson

For most of us life changed in March 2020. Some states shut down “non-essential” businesses. Companies sent employees home to work. Consumer income dropped dramatically. Business purchasing models changed. Sales processes were revamped to meet the changing environment.

We learned to work from home. Instead of meeting in a business setting we watched each other in small squares on laptop screens. We adapted and survived or maybe even thrived during this time. Because not every business was affected the same. Some pivoted to making facial coverings, some distilleries made hand sanitizer, hospitals preserved space for the sickest COVID infected patients. We great salespeople were creative in our approach to business in this disruptive period relying on the experience of past lessons….

A Time To Be Grateful

11/20/2020 By Don Crawford Leave a Comment

This blog was first posted at Thanksgiving 2019. A lot has changed since then with the COVID-19 pandemic. Business disruption has occurred in all markets throughout the world. Many businesses have failed because of the restrictions necessary to control the spread of the virus. Others have thrived by providing new and innovative services during the pandemic. And entrepreneurs are taking risks starting new businesses to fulfill their dreams. Even in the midst of all the angst we can be grateful.

Great Salespeople Celebrate Their Success

Great Salespeople Are Thankful
Image by GraphicMama-team from Pixabay

Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. Thanksgiving is also celebrated at different times in many other countries. The early Thanksgiving celebrations were to pause and show gratitude for the harvest of the previous year and the sacrifices making it possible. In our family we usually gather with friends and relatives to mark the day with pleasant conversation, sumptuous food and of course a glass (or two) of wine. This year the two of us will spend the day together apart from those we love. Even so as we enjoy the meal together we will take turns saying what we are particularly grateful for….

Sales Skill: Word Choice

11/13/2020 By Don Crawford Leave a Comment

Great salespeople carefully choose their words when we speak with prospects and customers. They know word choice affects the outcome of their sales presentation. The language we use and the jargon of our industries changes over time. Think carefully about relevant word choice. And how you relate to your prospects and customers.

Words Choice is Important
Image from Pixabay

Proposal vs. Quote

Great salespeople use word choice to develop long-term, mutually beneficial relationships. Sounds like a marriage, doesn’t it? Do we “quote” to the one we love or “propose?” A “proposal” is rich in detail about the value of the purchase to the customer. A “quote” is all about the price for the item….

Sales Skill: Customer Focused Selling

11/06/2020 By Don Crawford Leave a Comment

Why is customer focused selling so important? Take a look at any article on why a business fails. Failure to focus on the customer is always near the top of the list. It’s logical. Without income from sales no company can sustain itself, let alone grow. Great salespeople know focusing on the customer and their wants and needs is the most important skill they have.

Great salespeople focus on the customer first

Customer Focussed Salespeople Win Big!

What Is Customer Focused Selling?

The name of the skill says it all. Great salespeople practice putting the customer first. They do it by asking good questions and actively listening to what the customer tells them. I know what you are thinking: The salespersons goal is to get a prospect to buy the product or service. True. But to have a successful outcome, the salesperson needs to understand the customer. That’s where customer focused selling comes in….

Understand The Buying Ecosystem

10/30/2020 By Don Crawford Leave a Comment

Great salespeople know understanding the buying ecosystem of their customers is key to closing deals. They use their asking and listening skills to find out all the players on the prospect’s team and how their roles affect the buying decision. Then they craft the sales presentation to appeal to the problem in terms of how it affects each member of the buying ecosystem.

Understanding the buyer ecosystem is paramount to winning the order

Who Is In Your Buying Ecosystem?
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What Is The Buying Ecosystem?

The term comes from biology: an ecosystem is a community or group of living organisms that live in and interact with each other in a specific environment. Great salespeople know there are various interests in the solution to any problem. Each of those interests has a role in deciding whether to purchase your solution. So the buying ecosystem is composed of all those people who participate in deciding what to buy. In large corporate purchases the buying ecosystem has members from many departments. In family decision making the ecosystem is smaller but no less important….