Are you enjoying the fact that the world of selling is not quite so straightforward as it used to be? Possibly not as much as you wish it were.
Remember the old saying, “build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door”. If only !
As professional sales people nowadays, you need to be a relationship builder, a CRM specialist, a Consultant, a part time accountant, a marketing expert, both online and offline (depending on your sector), and a seriously knowledgeable person about your products and also a person who can really drill into what it is that will motivate a customer to do business with you and your company.
It was great when we had the only mousetrap that caught a mouse, but the competition is fierce now and the mice are very selective and regularly get their “cheese” elsewhere, unless we have the right brand of cheddar, in the right quantity, in the right shape and at the right price, and oh yes, we need to re-fill the mousetrap at the right time. Otherwise, they’ll get attracted to some else’s mouse trap.
A gentle suggestion above is of course to re-read “Who Moved My Cheese” because we constantly need to change ourselves, change our approaches, refresh our skills and develop closer relationships with our existing customers, cause it can be so expensive and difficult to win a new customer.
Modern selling skills will always remain a vital component. There’s so competition now. There are so many companies competing for the same income. This frantic world is not going away.
We may end up selling the same things for a long time, or providing the same solutions to our customers. But our customers want more, they want us to understand their business problems.
Good professional sales people do stand out and will reach the top of the pile, receive excellent rewards and opportunities to be a Sales Director, COE or MD., so it is worth the efforts to continually challenge yourself and particularly to understand your selling skills and limitations.
The Web has put our competitor’s information in front of our customers. How are we going to create that personal and company point of difference and our personal brand, so they will see us as a strategic partner?
If we consider ourselves as a customer, we look for a lot now from the people who supply us. We seek a lot more value than we used to. However, it is so true that if you develop a good reputation and can impress your clients and consistently meet their needs, you will end up with referrals and people who want to recommend you. So do always show up on time, say please and thank you, always do you best in everything, build genuine authentic relationships (not manipulative ones), develop yourself and your customer and don’t forget to assess your selling skills NOW