Top 5 Sales tips for New Sellers

by Jill Konrath

 

I was recently asked, “If you were mentoring a new salesperson, what would be your top five sales tips and how did you learn those?”

Good question! It really got me thinking. There are so many things I’d like to tell a new seller. But what are the most important? What things could I recommend that would have the highest impact on success?

After serious deliberation, here are my thoughts …

1. Focus on making a difference.

Nobody cares about your product, service or solution. That’s the hardest thing for sellers to realize. All they care about is the difference you can make for their organization.

For example, today I sell sales training. If I’d call a VP of Sales and mention that, they’ll tell me they’re not interested. However, once I changed my focus to the tangible outcomes they’d get from using my sales training, the door opened wide. After all, they were extremely interested in shortening their sales cycle, reducing the ramp up time for new hire sales reps and driving revenue growth.

2. Slow down to speed up your sales.

This was one of the hardest things for me to learn. When I first started selling, I was so eager to be successful. I tried to wow my prospects with my great product knowledge. I closed often and early. But the more I tried to rush things, the more resistant to moving forward my prospects became. They’d throw out obstacles and objections that I couldn’t overcome. When I learned to slow down, parcel information out over multiple meetings, and simply advance the sales process one step at a time, suddenly my sales increased.

When you’re scared about not getting the business, your prospects can intuitively sense your fear. One of the major symptoms is rushing the sales process.

3. Pay the price of admission. Do precall research!

To get into big companies, you can’t make a 100 cold calls saying the same thing to everyone. Several years ago corporate decision makers stopped answering their phones and rolled all calls to voicemail. They delete most messages within seconds because they sound like salespeople making their pitch.

I discovered that the only way to capture the attention of these corporate decision makers was to create a very personalized message based on in-depth research in their firm. Once I started doing this, I started setting up meetings.

4. Create an account entry campaign.

It takes 7-10 contacts to crack into a corporate account these days. Most sellers give up after 3-5 attempts. If you want to set up a meeting with a corporate decision maker, plan multiple touches from the onset. It takes a while to break through their busy-ness and register on their Richter Scale, but it can be done.

You can use multiple formats in your campaign too: voicemail, email, direct mail, invitations to teleseminars, and more.

5. Analyze your sales approach from your customer’s shoes.

It’s not important what you say. The only thing that matters is what your customers hear. For example, when I was trying to reach a decision maker a while back, I decided to leave the message on my own voicemail first to see how I sounded. When I listened to my message, I was appalled. I sounded pathetic! So I worked on scripting my message and kept calling myself over and over till I finally created something I would respond to if I were the prospect.

Your turn! What would be your top suggestions to a new seller? And how did you learn them?

How to Network Without Wasting Time

John Rampton

As freelancers, we often hear the recommendations to “network.” Social media, conferences, an extremely crowded cyberspace can make this feel almost impossible to do with any sort of strategy. How do we authentically connect with others in our field, as well as potential clients, without burning out and wasting time?

There are a few simple techniques that you can use that are time-efficient and zero-cost, and you can put them into practice right away!

Have a Small Goal for Daily Social Media Engagement

Every day, you should like and/or share others’ posts in your industry. These posts can be written by industry leaders or simply by skilled and successful colleagues, but it’s important that you demonstrate your appreciation for the work of others. Consistently making yourself part of your own online community will expand your network and make you a familiar online “face” to others.

Once a Week, E-Mail a Different Industry Leader with a Compliment and a Relevant Question

This is hard to do without sounding spammy, but the goal should be to offer a genuine compliment about his or her work, and to ask a short, meaningful question. You can learn a great deal from even one e-mail exchange with a well-known and successful contact, but it may also lead to an ongoing relationship and eventual collaboration.

Cross-Pollinate with Diverse Networks

Instead of endlessly attending “networking events“ for your specific field, try to mix up your network by spending time with people from related but different industries than the one you work in. Sometimes, networking within your own field can turn into competition or hero worship. However, spreading your time out over diverse fields that could connect you to new leads is worth the investment.

Talk to Everyone You Know About What You Do

Without talking exclusively about your work (which is tiring for others), be sure to organically discuss your work and the state of your business on a regular basis. Communicate your excitement about your work and your passion for your current projects. People love to connect and to act as professional “matchmaker,” and friends or family may refer you to your next big client.

Use Your Personal Social Media for Professional Content on a Regular Basis

Even though your freelance field may seem obvious to you on your own social media page, keep in mind that most of your social media contacts don’t really look at your profile page, on any website. They look at your posts. So even if your description says that you’re a graphic designer but you post nothing but pictures of your dog, consider posting recent projects with proud taglines about how excited you were to deliver the content. Old contacts often become new clients.

While paid networking events can be a good investment, you could be surprised by how these free techniques will yield new connections right away!

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Spy on Your Competitors- Instapaper

Instapaper – a tool for organization

This is a simple tool that allows you to save web pages for later to read on your computer, mobile phone, or even Kindle. Once you sign up for an account (which takes just a few minutes), you can add the bookmarklet to your bookmark bar to keep things easy. When it comes to spying on your competition, it’s incredibly helpful to know who your competition is, first and foremost, and this tool will help.

instapaper

Best Ways to Use This Tool:

  • Save webpages to read later
  • Add a bookmarklet to keep your content organized
  • Visit competitor sites and save content that might be of use to you

Price: Free

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Spy on Your Competitors- Google Alerts

Google Alerts – a tool for monitoring mentions

This is a very simple and easy-to-use tool that will send reports right to your inbox. If you want to know every single time your competitor is mentioned online, whether as a link or simply a mention, you’ll get that report. You can monitor keywords as well. It’s up to you what you want to track.

google alerts

Best Ways to Use This Tool:

  • Get competitors’ backlinks
  • Monitor social (or other website) mentions of your company
  • Monitor keyword mentions

Price: Free

5 Amazingly Helpful Sales Tips For Introverted Entrepreneurs

The feeling is all too familiar. It’s the anxiety you get when you’re in a situation where you have to influence others.

You’re very much aware of the toll that sales interactions can take on your psyche. Since you’re one of the introverted entrepreneurs, human interaction drains your energy. It’s not that you don’t enjoy other people. You are able to have fun in the company of others.

However, these social interactions don’t give you energy — they sap your energy.

This, combined with the fact that selling requires a lot of human interaction can make sales a seemingly daunting task for introverted entrepreneurs. For them, selling can sometimes feel like running a marathon with an elephant strapped to your back.

Okay, I’m exaggerating a little, but it’s true.

If you’re an introverted entrepreneur who doesn’t know how to sell, this can be a huge challenge. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Don’t believe the myth that only extroverts can be great salespeople. Introverted entrepreneurs actually have strengths that can lend themselves well to influencing others.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably like many other introverted entrepreneurs. You have awesome ideas. You have a product or service that could literally change the lives of the people who buy them. And you’re having some trouble getting others to see the value.

Perhaps you’re too intimidated by the idea of having to sell. Maybe you think you won’t be as good at it because you’re not the outgoing type. This article will give you some practical tips that can help you utilize the strengths you have as one of the introverted entrepreneurs out there.

These strengths actually give you an advantage in the world of sales.

Introverted Entrepreneurs Can Sell!

I’ve been in sales for about 10 years now but I’ve been an introvert all my life. I love being around people and having great conversations, but after a certain amount of time, I need to “disappear” and have some time to myself.

If you’re also an introvert, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

When I first got into sales, I realized very quickly that if I was going to succeed, I had to take a different approach than my outgoing, extroverted colleagues. I hated the idea of being that pushy, aggressive salesperson. I knew that most customers found this obnoxious.

Instead, I realized that my strengths lay in the fact that I knew how to form relationships with my customers. I was typically able to get a customer to like and trust me pretty quickly. As a result, I was able to provide more value and establish more credibility in the mind of my prospect.

Over time, I began to understand how I could leverage my strengths to become a better salesperson. When I embraced these strengths, I became a far more effective influencer.

Jennifer Kahnweiler, author of “Quiet Influence: The Introvert’s Guide To Making A Difference,” says it this way in a recent interview:

“Introverts can be really highly effective influencers when they stop trying to act like extroverts and really build on the strengths that they have inherently.”

Introverted entrepreneurs can be just as effective at sales as extroverts, if they know how to use their strengths. If you’re an introverted entrepreneur, don’t try to use the same techniques as extroverts.

It doesn’t work. It’s like trying to join the NBA when you’re only 5 feet tall.

Instead, work your strengths.

When you learn how to leverage your strengths, you become far more influential, especially when it comes to building long term, profitable relationships with your clients.

Allow Time to Recharge

If you’re an introverted entrepreneur, you need to accept the fact that social interactions will drain your energy. There’s nothing you can do to prevent it.

Make sure that you carve out some time during the day to recharge. It’s important. You won’t be able to function at your best when your batteries are almost drained. If you want some good tips for recharging your introversion battery, check out this article.

Introverted entrepreneurs need to take time throughout their day to be alone. Even if it’s just for 10 to 15 minutes. I can tell you from experience that it makes a huge difference. These short recharging sessions can give you the push you need to close the next sale.

Focus On the Relationship

However, being an introvert doesn’t mean that you’re unable to socialize just as well as an extrovert. It just means that you socialize differently from extroverts.

Introverted entrepreneurs tend to do better in one-on-one interactions. Whenever possible, try to limit the interaction to one other person, or a smaller group. This will make it much easier to form a real relationship with your prospect.

Don’t feel like you have to rush right into the sale. It won’t work. Instead, take the time to understand your prospect and allow them to understand you. Show your human side. Find things that you and your prospect have in common and have a conversation.

It may feel like you’re wasting time on things that are irrelevant, but you’re not. You’re forging a bond between you and your prospect. When you do this, they are far more likely to turn to you as their resource. This is because you took the time to invest in them.

People buy from salespeople that they know, like, and trust. Without forming a relationship, you won’t know, like or trust you.

Also, don’t think that forming a relationship has to take a long time. You don’t have to spend weeks chatting about things you have in common. Just allow the prospect to see who you are beyond your company, and take the time to find out who they are beyond your desire to get them to buy. Once that is done, you will have begun building the relationship.

Use Your Superior Listening Skills

If you’re an introvert, you’re not much of a talker. You’re a listener. You like to get people to tell you their stories rather than having to share your own. You have a natural curiosity that makes other comfortable with telling you about themselves.

As a matter of fact, people have probably spilled their whole life stories to you even though you didn’t intentionally try to get them to open up. It’s a normal part of being introverted. People tend to trust us more easily.

Contrary to popular belief, great salespeople don’t have to be great talkers. They have to be great listeners. Otherwise, you’ll end up talking about a lot of things that don’t really address what your prospect’s needs are.

As an introverted entrepreneur, you are able to listen to what someone is telling you, and glean the information you need. It’s easier for you to gain a fuller understanding of your prospect’s situation. This is essential for any successful salesperson, regardless of where they fall on the extrovert/introvert spectrum.

Use your natural skill at listening to ferret out your customer’s pain points. Figure out how you can provide a solution. Don’t feel like you have to rush into your sales pitch. The more your prospect talks, the more you will learn and the more you will build trust with your prospect.

Don’t Focus On Selling, Focus On Consulting

In addition to being great listeners, introverted entrepreneurs also tend to be deep thinkers. We are able to take the information that is presented to us and use our critical thinking ability to discover needs and figure out how our product or service fills that need.

The best way for anyone to sell is to focus on the customer’s pain points. You shouldn’t be trying to sell a product, you should be trying to sell a solution to a problem.

Take a more consultative approach. Use your expertise to educate your customer on what they need. It’s a great way to provide value to the customer without them paying for it.

This is important. Why?

Because the amount of influence you have with a prospect is directly tied to the amount of perceived value you bring. If you can give them advice that actually helps them, you have provided value. This helps you establish yourself as a credible resource in the customer’s mind. You increase the chances that they will choose you instead of your competition.

Don’t Be Afraid to Close

I struggled with this. I was great at listening and getting the prospect to know, like, and trust me. But I wasn’t good at closing. I felt like I was being too pushy or aggressive.

I was wrong, and I’ve lost plenty of sales because of it.

Then, I realized that closing isn’t too pushy. If you have taken the time to engage with your prospect, listen to their pain points, figure out solutions, and offer helpful tips, you’ve earned the right to ask for the business.

However, you won’t get the business if you don’t ask for it. So don’t be afraid. If you have done your job well, your prospect won’t think you’re being too pushy. It doesn’t mean that they will accept your offer, but depending upon their objection, you may still be able to win the sale.

As a matter of fact, your natural listening skill can help you better understand why they are objecting. This puts you in a better position to turn the “no” into a “yes.”

Conclusion

Being a successful entrepreneur means knowing how to influence others. Of course, as with any skill, practice makes perfect. The more you do it, the easier it gets.

If you’re an introverted entrepreneur, selling doesn’t have to be an intimidating undertaking. Don’t try to sell like an extrovert. Learn how to play to your strengths and you will become an unstoppable force of sales awesomeness.

Getting Loans for your Small Business- Try SBA

By Paul Long– Written and Published in the Business Examiner December 2016
Updated November 28, 2018

Starting and growing a small business in is not an easy task. As a lender dedicated to helping small businesses it is absolutely humbling to hear stories about how people have sacrificed in order to achieve their dream of owning a small business. Whether it is a retail store, new service business or manufacturing a product, each business has its unique challenges.  As most business owners know, the #1 issue small businesses face is getting access to capital.

In the United States, we have an amazing government program called The SBA (U.S. Small Business Administration) The SBA works with banks in order to provide a loan guarantee to assist banks in making certain loans to small businesses when businesses do not qualify conventionally. The SBA does not directly lend money to business owners, the SBA partners with the bank to do so.

There are two main SBA lending programs.

SBA 7(a) – This program allows small businesses to finance inventory, working capital, vehicle and equipment purchases, business acquisitions and more. An average SBA 7(a) loan term (that doesn’t rely on real estate) are up to a 10 year term with market rates typically in the 5-9% range. SBA 7(a) can also be used for real estate with terms up to 25 years.

For borrowers who are seeking loans under $350,000, the SBA has the SBA Small Loan and SBA Express program that has increased overall efficiency with less paperwork the borrower needs to fill out and quicker turnaround times.  With an average 7(a) loan amount around $350,000 this small loan program can really assist businesses get capital that they need quickly.

SBA 504- This program is great for business owners looking to purchase large equipment or owner-occupied commercial real estate.  An average SBA 504 Loan allows the borrower to have as low as a 10% down payment which keeps more capital in the business. The SBA lender then provides the funding for 50% of the loan and a Certified Development Company (aka the SBA portion) finances 40%. The best part of this program is that the SBA/CDC portion of the loan typically has a 10 or 20 year fixed interest rate.

When applying for SBA loans, banks still look for the 5 c’s of credit:

  • Character-Having good credit personally and for the business will always be a big deciding factor in getting a loan. It is important to check your personal credit free each year at annualcreditreport.com.
  • Capacity– Be able to show you have a financial plan or historical proof on how you plan to pay back the loan. Having multiple sources of repayment is always a plus.
  • Capital– Lenders will always look to see how much cash or equity you put into the project. There are very few 100% lending programs for businesses available.
  • Collateral– Even though the SBA can be flexible with collateral, having some collateral is still required.
  • Conditions– How you are going to use the loan funds is also important. Make sure you have a solid budget and business plan.

When you are ready to take the next step in seeking capital for your business, make sure to reach out to a local SBA lender like Gesa Credit Union The SBA has also made it easier to connect borrowers with local SBA lenders with a service called SBA Lender Match (www.sba.gov/lendermatch) Borrowers answer a few questions about your business and in as little as 2 business days, hear from local SBA lenders interested in your request.