10 Mandatory Mindsets to Be an Extraordinary Salesperson

Sales is one of the highest paid professions in the world.

There are countless reports and studies that show this to be true through pretty compelling evidence.

In my own life, almost every thing I’ve done professionally has either been sales or had a sales element. Back in high school it was waiting tables and “up selling” customers on the dinner special and buying an expensive drink. Today it’s my main business, where I sell real estate, the most expensive thing people buy in their lives.

Point is, I’ve always been selling. In fact, I think firefighting was the only thing that I’ve done where I wasn’t getting paid to sell something.

Whether you’re an employee like I was at TGI Fridays, or you’re an entrepreneur like I am with my real estate business, think about what it is you REALLY do. I’ll bet you provide a product or service to the world, and you don’t get paid unless someone buys it.

In other words, you don’t get paid unless you you sold them on your product or service.

So, since I’ve sold dozens of services or products in various industries and economies for most of my life, I think I’ve got a pretty good wrap on what it takes to succeed in sales. I’ve also had the pleasure of working elbow to elbow with some of the best sales people in top sales industries, so I got a front row seat to observe these masters at work.

When I reflect back on the years and experience I’ve had in sales, and the millions I’ve made in sales in my career to date, there are the 10 mindsets that I think are absolutely crucial for anyone in the sales industry (or anyone who wants to get into sales).

Product Knowledge

If you’re selling something, you need to know it so well that you may as well have personally invented it.

If you can’t answer any possible question about your product…game over. They aren’t buying.

Charisma

People buy things when they like you.

If they don’t like you, they aren’t buying what you’re selling no matter how great the product or service is.

Be funny, be approachable, be a “people person”. Don’t just talk business, build rapport with your client. Rapport equals sales, always. 100% of the time.

Has a salesperson ever pissed you off and you bought anyway? Usually not, unless you are stranded on an island and they are selling the last boat.

Confidence

Confident people sell better, period. I’ve been around sales my whole entrepreneurial life, and the people that carry themselves with confidence exude confidence in their sales conversations and people buy more from them.

I have witnessed people with less sales skills but higher confidence in themselves and in their products put up better numbers again and again and again. However, don’t get confidence confused with arrogance. That’s taking it too far.

Good at Identifying a DBM

Every person has a dominant buying motive. Find that, and cater your sales conversation around that. This appeals to the desires of the person or the problem they are trying to solve that they believe your product will fix, so you have to connect your product/service to satisfying or fulfilling that desire or fixing their problem.

Example: Someone is looking at a car, and mentions that they have a small child and baby number two is on the way. They heard that the car you are selling is the safest.

Their DBM is safety, so don’t go selling them on the paint job.

Identify What Features and Benefits They Value Most

Your product or service may have many features and benefits, but there are only a few that they are most interested in; talk about and sell those. If you focus on things they aren’t as interested in, they will feel they are over paying.

This is different than their dominant buying motive. Their DBM is what problem in their lives they are tying to solve. The features and benefits are the specific things within the product or service they most like.

Back to the car example. If you’re in Arizona in the summer, and all you keep talking about is how well the heater works, the heated seats, the heated steering wheel, how well insulated the car is so it stays warm, and the heating coil on the engine block to keep the engine warm, that person will feel like they are over paying for that car because those features that are meaningless to them.

However if the same car is a convertible, has amazing AC, has cooled seats, tinted windows and automatic sun shades on the side and rear windows, focus on those things in your sales conversation. It’s the same car, but you are highlighting which features they actually find valuable.

Appearance

Dress the part for your service, within your demographic.

I have been in sales where a three piece suit was required, but I’ve also sold the same product in markets like Hawaii where that type of outfit would make my client uncomfortable.

Always dress to match who you are selling, with what you’re selling. If you’re selling personal training for the gym, be in work out clothes. If you are selling stocks or other financial products, be in a suit. If you are selling products for the surf industry, look like you belong on the beach.

Understand the Skill of Persuasion

Crappy sales people are pushy. Awesome sales people are persuasive.

There is a huge difference between being pushy and persuasive. Pushy is forceful and begging, persuasion is in your language and your reasoning. To learn great sales language, study NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming).

Honest

Do not over sell your product/service…ever.

Tell people exactly what it is without exaggeration. If what you’re selling needs to be exaggerated or lied about, chances are it sucks and you shouldn’t spend energy selling it anyway.

Transparency and honesty are obvious to who you are selling, so make sure you demonstrate that so that you can build trust with your client. People do business with people they trust.

Resilience and Thick Skin

Not everyone says yes. Good sales people don’t take a “No” personally, and aren’t afraid of hearing it.

Good sales people know that they have to hear a certain amount of “No’s” before they hear a single “Yes”, so they take the no, and move on as quickly as possible. Sales people that take No’s personally suck, because they are too emotional and too connected with the outcome.

SHUT UP!

The last, and probably one of the most important, know when to SHUT UP!

Selling is listening. I see poor sales people get to the sale, get a yes, then keep talking past the sale, and then talk the client out of buying because they didn’t shut up. Ask questions, listen, follow the previous 9 steps, and when you get a “yes”, SHUT UP. Fill out the paperwork or whatever happens to finish the sale, and move on!!!

And Finally…

The only other thing to consider is what you’re selling. Number one thing to consider is make sure it’s a product or service you believe in.

Don’t sell crap, sell things that improve people’s lives, and that you are proud of. Also, make sure you are aligning yourself with a company, product, and industry that is healthy and growing. Don’t get yourself into such a small niche you can’t make any real money.

For instance, if you sell tires for tractors, chances are you won’t be clocking 7 figures a year.

*If you are a tractor tire sales person and making 7 figure a year, contact me, I want you on my podcast.*

Put yourself in an industry that is growing around you, get in front of an emerging trend, and ride it to the top.

Best wishes and I’ll see you at the top,

Cole

***

If you found any value in this post, hit the recommend button below. It would help out a lot!

Originally published at www.colehatter.com on March 19, 2015.