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1. Wearing Your Heart on Your Sleeve â€" As a sales representative, it is imperative that you never act desperate or over confident upon making a sale. Undoubtedly, human emotions that are inherent in all of us make this rule much harder to practice than it is to preach, though there is a direct relationship between emotions shown other than pure professionalism by the sales rep., and the leverage gained by the buyer during pending negotiations.
2. Be Able to Speak as if You’re an Expert â€" Upon sitting with the executives of a prospective client company, as a sales professional, you can either be viewed as “one of the team members†or “one of the many firms trying to make a small commission off of the team members.†Speaking in terms of persuasion, having the ability to speak the same jargon as a client is just as important as how neat and professional you look.
3. Listen Intently, Even if it’s to a Violin in Your Head â€" Many potential buyers whom business development professionals come across are in the market to purchase the product or service because they are unhappy with their current vendor. As a sales professional, the best thing that you can do is to listen and simply let the individual vent their frustrations. Interrupting with sales cliches such as, “I can’t believe they did that,†or “Our company would never do something like that,†can turn their perception of you from a savior to another potential liability.
Instead, contently listening with a simple, “I’m sorry that was your situation,†is how to ink the deal.
4. Allow Someone on the Other Side of the Table to be the Alpha Male or Female â€" Contrary to what our human instincts would tell us, the sales meeting really has nothing to do with us. Sales professionals are just outsiders sitting at a table with a bunch of people whose relationship with one another is much more complex than the title given to them by the company and passed on to the sales person.
At group meetings, sales professionals need to treat everybody the same regardless of how the group may treat each other. The rule of “never getting too comfortable in speech†also falls under this addendum.
5. If Your Target Executives Buy Their Clothes at Saks, You Find Out How to Cut Costs Somewhere Else in Your Life â€" Salespeople are often thought of as outsiders by executives because, in one sense or another, sales people are usually asking for money. However, a salesperson seems a lot less needy if he or she is perceived to be in the same socioeconomic group as the executive they would sell to. People do buy from those whom they like, but they will more readily buy from those who are like them.
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