7 Skills of Elite Sales Professionals - Yours for the Taking
Christine Sutherland
Many years of studying the elite performers in professional selling, and developing and providing sales training programs and measuring the results, has given us an edge that we'd like to pass on right here. Here are the special knowledge and skills that any professional sales person needs if he or she is to gain control of income levels and truly move into the "elite" of sales and business success!
IRRESISTIBLE RAPPORT
Matching and mirroring (which you may have been taught) is merely the kindy level of rapport. Top performers have such incredible rapport skills that they're often able to build rapport very rapidly, even with people who initially don't like them.
Most of the online dating gurus don't even know this material and let's hope they never find out!
It probably wouldn't do much good anyway, because they'd use it to try to manipulate, and manipulation is an automatic rapport breaker. To achieve the results you really want, these rapport skills must be used to enhance your relationships so that your level of connection with people is deep and genuine.
What's the secret? Well partly of course it takes practice, but it's important that this is correct practice. Some of the things you can do to increase your rapport skills are to take a leaf out of, believe it or not, the synchonised swimming teams!
These teams need to be "in synch" if they are to perform in synchronised precision. They take time before each performance to stand in a circle and really connect with each other, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally.
MIND READER EXTRAORDINAIRE!
This goes beyond rapport and is in fact the ability to read your clients like a book.
Using accelerated learning techniques, you can quite quickly develop a level of skill in knowing what your client is thinking, even before your client becomes aware of the thought!
How would you like to know the difference between "yes/no", "like/dislike", and "ready/not ready"? Useful?
You can certainly gain this skill, and again it takes practice! If you're willing to spend time with buddies or business friends who'll silently think of things that for example they "like", and then of things that they "don't like", you'll very quickly notice the set of cues that are the giveaway for each person. The more you practice, the more you can pick this up quickly even with people you've never met before.
THE *ONLY* PERSONALITY TRAITS THAT MATTER
Although psychologists would clearly disagree in terms of personality traits that impact on mental health, unless you're a therapist the ONLY personality traits that are of concern to you are those that impact on motivation and decision making.
It might surprise you, but once you've studied that collection of traits, you'll find you've got a natural affinity with them. In fact if you bring to mind even casual acquaintances, you'll find that you can now identify those traits IMMEDIATELY.
I'm going to give you an example of one of these traits and it's called by several names, one of which is "similarity/difference". You'll soon see why.
I'm sure you know at least one person who habitually disagrees with anyone and anything. It's not that they're being negative, because if you say something is lousy they'll assert that it's perfectly OK! This is a mismatcher, or "polarity responder" and it's just the way they are. They are always sorting information for "difference".
On the other hand, there's that equally maddening person who's constantly focussing on the things that are similar or in common, rather than on things that are different or even "new". This type of thinking can be quite counter-productive for a student, for example, because instead of recognising new knowledge, they will discount it by saying something like "Oh yes, this is just like X, and I learned that last year!" They completely miss out on the differences, especially the subtle ones, and therefore fail to learn as well as they could.
Real Life Example
Fred the sales professional is talking with Macey the general manager and Macey seems "contrary". Initially she explains that she has a problem with one of the manufacturing processes, but when Fred refers to this later, using Macey's own phrasing in order to cut out any misunderstanding, Macey denies that there is any problem! Macey even mismatches her own statements. (Author note: People like this do actually exist, and I can point to a particular senior manager at a major organisation who did exactly this, repeatedly throughout the encounter.)
This might seem like an impossible situation, but because the mismatcher is so predictable, it turns out they're the easiest to influence. In this situation Fred could say "Macey, I'm not sure if you feel the same or if there's not an easier way to run that process, but I wonder if you wouldn't find it more effective to ...."
Later he says, "Macey, this new method isn't for everyone and it may not suit you " Macey is the easiest client of all, if you recognise her meta-program and respond to it appropriately! When you understand these personality traits, there's no way you'll make the mistakes that in the past have clashed with your client's "style".
MILLION DOLLAR QUESTIONS
Clients love these 3 little questions and elite sales performers are experts at asking them, and working with the answers.
These 3 questions can rightly be called "million dollar questions" because they absolutely highlight the client's core values in relation to the product or service being offered, and even tell you the precise words the client needs to hear in order to make a decision to buy.
There are 2 reasons why these questions can be regarded as "gold". They increase your chances of selling by at least double, and they simultaneously build an incredibly deep level of understanding between you and your client, meaning that it's also more likely that you'll receive terrific referrals from this client far into the future.
FINGERTIP CONTROL OF YOUR INCOME
Do you currently know how to achieve any sales goal you choose? Consistently and persistently?
Top performers can pull in their desired income year after year because they know and use their own mathematical equation that leads inevitably to a certain sales result.
You've heard of Frank Bettger? He was possibly the first person in the world to turn his sales activities into a documented system that worked. Nowadays of course there's just a little more to it, but not much!
What sales activities do you get involved in? What result can you attribute to each (even if it's just a guess at this stage)? If you wanted to double your income, what would you have to do? What activities would you dump and what would you keep?
For this equation to work for you, you have to be prepared to plan, document, track and analyse each activity or it just won't happen because you'll still be flying blind. However if you do this, then I absolutely know you're going to be successful beyond your dreams.
MAKING FEAR OR DOUBT VANISH!
Have you ever known what you had to do, and certainly been capable of doing it very well, and yet you procrastinated or self-sabotaged so it still didn't get done? This is what fear or niggling doubt can do, so obviously it needs to go!
So what can you do if you know there's no logical reason for you to NOT make those calls, or NOT take up that speaking invitation, but you still perspire madly every time you imagine yourself doing it?
For several years we've had available an incredible technique to eliminate these types of fears and doubts literally overnight (including stuttering, by the way) but very few people have known about it.
One of the most powerful of all these techniques is "NeuroStim". It's capable of eliminating depression, chronic pain, fear and anxiety in just days, and sometimes even overnight.
STATEGIC NETWORKING *PAYOFF*!
We used to recommend that our clients and students join a networking organisation and in fact our manual "Speed Business Networking - the Manual" was designed to help people network better in their organisations, and to help the organisations themselves provide a higher-quality networking experience for their members.
But you know what? We don't see any evidence of networking organisations even UNDERSTANDING the principles of effective networking, let alone teaching them to their members.
Nowadays we advise our clients and students to avoid these organisations whenever possible. They are half-baked examples of what networking should be about and our people are far better off forming their own business networks among trusted business friends. If they do this the right way, they'll enjoy unprecedented success, including superior peer-mentoring, joint venture agreements, referrals, advocacy, and sharing of expertise and resources. And they can do it all in business hours.
With this strategy you'll save time, money and effort on networking organisations that turn networking into a predatory game. You'll stop wasting time trying to build relationships with people with whom you have nothing in common apart from business. You won't have to put up with (or use) those silly elevator pitches, or tolerate a mass of complete strangers stuffing their business cards at you or treating you like some captive audience to sell to. Most importantly, you won't be robbing yourself and your family and friends of precious family and social time. If you'll only network like this, it will REALLY pay off, personally and professionally.
CAN YOU PUT THIS TOGETHER AND REACH THE TOP?
Of course you can always learn more or enhance existing skills when it comes to your ability to communicate, but if you'll only master these 7 keys skills you'll soon be amongst the elite and you'll certainly deserve your place there!
About the Author:
The free ebook " Speed Business Networking - The Manual" spells out the detailed principles and methods that deliver effective networking. It's available to individuals and networking organisations who want to network more humanely and more productively.
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