Sales Philosophy: What You Believe Determines How Well You Sell

I have a simple sales philosophy: provide value first and make a friend at all costs.

Now, whats YOURS? Do you believe every word of it? You should, if you want to be a great salesperson.

EVERY salesperson should have a sales philosophy that they firmly believe in. It represents your values and defines who you are as a company and as a salesperson. It also affects how you approach your customers and how effective you are at making the sale.

I think I already have a sales philosophy

You may think you have a good sales philosophy, but chances are it needs improvement. Does it accurately represent YOU? Is it as effective as you think it is?

In reality, you probably fall into one of these two categories:

A. Youve been trained to follow some silly, scripted sales process you barely believe in, and may even hate.

B. Youve been in sales for what you consider to be a long time and have your own way of selling.

A: The Scripted Sales Philosophy

This usually happens to the newest of salespeople. They join the team, get a few scripts and are told to go get em! Let them get their teeth kicked in a few times, theyll learn. Is that really the best way to train someone in sales?

Well, there is something to be said for failing your way to success, but youre disheartening and devaluing your recent sales investmentyour new hires.

There are very few times when a verbatim script will actively engage another human being, whether its a cold call over the phone or in person. People buy from people, not a phony sales script. When your sales philosophy, or the one you are forced to swallow, doesnt match what you believe deep in your heart, you will NOT be a successful salesperson.

B: The Dated Sales Philosophy

So, youve been in sales for a long time and have grown accustomed to your own way of doing things, but is your method still working? Or has it gathered dust and lost its meaning, edge and effectiveness?

Maybe youre stuck in your habits, or perhaps youre anxious about trying something completely new. Whatever your reason for sticking with this method, its time to realize that this reality wont bring you the sales results that you want. Your numbers could be better if you let go of your excuses and old ways. Start with a new sales philosophy!

How do I develop a sales philosophy?

The key to developing a great sales philosophy depends on you and your individual values. The most important thing about is that you make sure it is completely YOURS.

First, however, you must identify your companys unique sales philosophy: what it wants its customers to think about the company, the products and the people. Then you need to consider what YOUR personal sales philosophy is. What YOU want your customers to think about you, the products you have chosen to represent, and the company you have chosen to work for.

There will often be some discrepancies between these two philosophies, but learning to work your own personal sales philosophy within your company is the key to success.

Using a sales philosophy that is not in line with your own values will only leave you frustrated with lackluster results. So stop using trained scripts and old habits that no longer represent you and what you have to offer as a salesperson!

Identifying your unique sales philosophy and harnessing the power of its authenticity will give you the enthusiasm to achieve the results you desire! Your customers will see your self-confidence and trust coming to you for their needs. If you truly believe in your sales philosophy, your company and your product, they will, too!

Tom Richard is the author of a weekly sales ezine titled, Sales Muscle. To receive a free subscribtion to this ezine send a blank email to subscribe@tomrichard.com

What If No One Ever Wrote A Book On How To Sell?
What if no one ever wrote a book on how to sell things? What if no one ever did a sales seminar or produced training videos or cassette tapes teaching people how to sell? What then? Would less items and services be sold? Yes, probably, we can deduce ...

Loan Officer Training - High Standards Yield High Results In The Mortgage Business
Someone once told me you have to have no fear of loss in life. That really changed my whole perspective in the sales world when I heard that.Until then, my philosophy was to get the sale, no matter what. Any sale was better than no sale, right? I...

Sales Training Starts with Fundamentals
Many in sales training are of the opinion and I am too; that good sales training starts with the fundamentals. Such as verifying that the prospect is truly interested, understands what your product or service can do and is qualified and able to buy t...

Sales Training Tip - 10 Reasons Why Hard Sales Tactics Never Work
Hard selling is when you go straight to the point and start to try to sell your product without any finesse. It is simply telling your prospective buyer that he should buy your product. Now this hard-core approach may work in some instances but the m...

The 10-80-10 Selling Rule
Mike came to my office one day looking very discouraged. He had been selling for about two months. He was doing significantly above average so his discouraged look surprised me.I asked him what was wrong and he said, I dont understand it. With my las...

Sales Closing Techniques No Longer Work
Closing sales no longer requires sales closing techniques. Do any of the following sound familiar?1. The attitude close 2. The alternate choice close 3. The voice inflection close 4. The fear of loss close 5. The alternate of choice closeThese ar...

Texas Sales Consultant Knows "C" Stands For Chief
C stands for Chief and by hiring a Texas sales consultant to help you sell your product to the chief, or senior level decision makers, youre cutting out a lot of the sales cycle and going right to, as we just said, the decision maker.A Texas sales co...

Overcoming the Reputation of a Salesperson
Every salesperson has experienced the fallout from working in a profession with a bad reputation. Regardless of whether they sell cars, insurance, or cute, cuddly puppies, people seem to turn their nose with just the thought of talking to a salesper...

Sell With an Attitude
When selling a product or giving a sales presentation, you always want to convey a positive, upbeat attitude at all times. This will send a crystal clear message to your audience that you believe in the product you sell, and that they should also.It ...

Sales Skills are Life Skills
I love the art of selling. LOVE IT. When I first entered the field of sales, the one thing I quickly grew to appreciate was the fact that anything I did to increase my ability in selling also increased my ability in life. Sales skills are life skills...

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 at 7:52 pm and is filed under Sales Training . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.