Selling is an essential skill for higher levels of success and wealth in your personal and professional life. To advance as an owner, leader, manager, or professional, at a minimum, you have to be knowledgeable and competent in this critical communication skill. Let's rate your skill level.
On a scale of 1-10 (10=excellent), how would you rate your overall selling skills? How would you rate your selling confidence? Your level of comfort? If you are at 7 or below in any of those ratings, there is much room for improvement and greater financial success. Whether you are an owner, executive, manager or salesperson, being effective at selling (with external and/or internal customers) is vital to your growth and success.
If you think about it, whether at home or work, you are always selling...your vision, ideas, beliefs, solutions, and your services/products. Selling is simply helping others better define and then achieve what they want. If you help others achieve what they want, you in turn get what you want. Since you are always selling, you might as well get better at this critically important communication skill.
Anyone can and should learn to sell more effectively. It's not that hard. Just be open-minded and willing to grow. Selling is simply an effective communication exchange with the focus on achieving a win-win outcome. Both parties should leave the situation better off than before.
Another way to think about selling is that it's a simple four-part communication process: 1) you need to establish rapport and trust with the other party, 2) you need to ask questions to gain meaningful information about their needs/wants, 3) you need to share relevant information about your solutions, and 4) you need to reach an agreement on how to proceed. Again, don't over-complicate it. Selling is a simple communication dance.
Here is an easy way to remember an effective selling/communication process, it's called the READ sales process – always READ the needs of your buyer or other party: 1) Relate, 2) Establish Needs, 3) Advance Solutions, and 4) Determine Next Step. Follow the READ process in any communication or selling situation and you will always focus on the other person and their needs first. You can’t go wrong. Again, selling is rather simple.
When done right, selling is a noble and helpful skill. Think about it, you are helping the other person to better define what they truly want in their personal or professional life. You help them define their current situation, their ideal situation (ideal future), and then bridge the gap. You help someone define and achieve a better future.
At The Growth Coach, we help all our clients (owners, manager, professionals) get more comfortable, confident and effective at selling...it's a part of our quarterly coaching process. Furthermore, we can go into any small business and help their entire sales team become more effective at selling with our Sales Mastery Program, on-going sales coaching and accountability. We teach each sales team a proven and structured selling process and then keep them accountable for using it.
Bottom line, for each small business we work with, The Growth Coach functions as an affordable, proven, guaranteed, and part-time Sales Manager for the company... driving lasting change in selling mindsets, habits, behavior and results.
Again, if you want to have greater success and satisfaction as an owner, leader, manager, or salesperson, the investment in sales coaching, for YOU and/or YOUR TEAM, provides a tremendous bottom-line return. Happy Selling!
Daniel M. Murphy
President, Founder & Business Coach
The Growth Coach
Business Coaching Franchise System
Certified Business Coaches throughout North America