In the world of complex business-to-business selling, there is no such thing as a born salesperson. Everyone who excelled in the space became successful through learning. Great sales people may make it look easy, but it all comes down to honing your skills. The key for sales people lays in constantly focusing on the activity of honing their skills and adding value to their opportunities and accounts. When you are in sales, the most important metric to success is closing the deal. But to reach that goal, certain fundamentals need to be in place. These fundamentals of sales are easily forgotten, but they can’t be ignored. There are simply no shortcuts around the basics of sales.
Here are a few fundamentals of sales that are imperative to your success and must not be forgotten:
- Focus on the customer
One of the biggest mistakes that salespeople make is to focus on what they are selling rather than focusing on the needs and wants of the customer. Salespeople should talk less about themselves, their product, their viewpoint and focus more on listening to the customer. Forcing yourself to keep the customer’s perspective is a trick that can do wonders for you.
- Control your emotions
Being emotionally involved in sales is something that every sales person should avoid. Being emotional takes you out of the present and keeps you from focusing on what the prospect is actually saying. You need to constantly observe the tone and inflection of the voice of the potential customer and being emotionally involved in the sales keeps you from doing so.
- Be in contact
Keeping in touch with your prospects after the initial call is important as this helps in keeping your name or your company’s name in the forefront of your customer’s mind. Many sales opportunities get lost in the mix simply because the sales reps fail to follow up with the prospects after the initial contact.
- Keep prospecting
Prospecting is a continuous task and not a one-time thing. It is one of the most underrated tasks in sales yet the most valuable one. Reach out to the right people and do what it takes to successfully find new prospects for your products or services. Prospecting for new businesses every single day is the key to increase sales.
- Plan ahead
Only looking at the current day or week rather than focusing on the big picture is what goes wrong with many sales opportunities. Sales people need to focus on the future and plan ahead. Most sales people fail to achieve their goals because they lack a detailed plan that needs to be in place to be followed to achieve those goals. This also holds true for calling prospects. Researching about the company you are trying to get in contact with can help you have a beneficial and intelligent conversation with them once you connect.
Although there are many who try to find an easier or more appealing way to make it to the top, nothing can replace the basic fundamentals of sales.