Twelve Selling Tips

Twelve Ways To Get Better Selling Results

by Jim Meisenheimer

Here are twelve things to think about as you begin the second month of this New Year - 2003.|

1. Your attitude affects your magnitude. It's how you feel and what you exude. Good attitudes are contagious and so are the bad ones.

DNA has nothing to do with it. It's been said people who smile are happy. People don't smile because they're happy.

2. The biggest Rolodex always wins, if it has the right names and contact information. If you have a network, keep it informed.

The bigger your network is, the greater your influence. "Notworking" is one letter away from Networking. It's your choice.

3. Decisiveness makes you proactive. Always seek to achieve maximum results in minimum time. Finished is better than perfect.

Decisive people don't have pending decisions. They have clear desks and minds that are focused.

4. In business, what gets measured gets done. Determine the critical measurements for your business and stay focused on them.

"A small leak can sink a big ship." Remember the Titanic. In sales, sometimes what you don't do is more important than what you do.

5. You never get a second chance to make a good first impression. The first seven seconds is all it takes. People are judging you - that fast.

Imagine you are a billboard. What do you want yours to say about you? It should scream professionalism, customer focus, and added-value.

6. Forget time management. Time management may be the ultimate oxymoron. It's all about self-management. The balanced person has six dimensions.

They include:

     * Family,
     * Financial,
     * Spiritual,
     * Self-development,
     * Physical well-being, and
     * Social/Community.

The out-of-balanced person doesn't have time to think about the rest of his life. Suggestion - make your calendar the centerpiece for your life.

If it's important - put it on your calendar. Get a grip! Get a life!

7. What every salesperson should know about their potential customers.

     * Their business,
     * Their responsibilities,
     * Their challenges, their priorities,
     * What they like most about the products they're using,
     * What they would change, their decision criteria,
     * Their decision making process,
     * How they measure new supplier success, and
     * What it would take to be their best supplier.

You'll have to ask the right questions to get the right answers.

8. Skill sets for the 21st Century professional salespeople. Analytical skills, problem-solving, team work, delegation, win-win negotiating skills, hardware/software skills, Internet skills, networking skills, presentation skills, telephone skills, and you're not going to believe this one -selling skills.

9. Get a mentor. Look up the word in the dictionary. It means a wise and trusted counselor. It's a win-win for two people. Also, create your own personal board of directors and seek their counsel periodically.

Hang around people who are brighter than you. Devour good books.

10. Make every day a masterpiece by planning it. You need pencil and paper. You also must know how to prioritize. Only one out of eighty-one business people begin their day with a prioritized "To Do" list. Do you?

There's a very small difference between being proactive and reactive.

11. You can't take the one size fits all approach. You gotta add value to your selling process. Being better means being different.

What do you personally do that's specifically differentiated from your competitors? How do you specifically add value to your customers.

12. It's not about being busy. It's about results. Focus on outcomes. Set personal and professional goals annually in writing.

Goals will help you achieve the balance in life that you seek. Seek it and you'll find it. Most people don't expect to be really successfully and they're not.

There's a huge difference between positive expectations and negative ones. Your thoughts determine your life.

To achieve better selling results you must become a better sales person. Extraordinary salespeople do the common-sense things that most ordinary salespeople don't do.

REPRINT PERMISSION

Reprint permission granted in part or whole when the following credit appears: "Reprinted with permission from "Jeffrey Mayer's Succeeding In Business Newsletter. (Copyright, 2003, Jeffrey J. Mayer, Succeeding In Business, Inc.) To subscribe to Jeff's free newsletter, visit http://www.SucceedingInBusiness.com ."