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What makes a great sales person? Well, the natural ability to selldefnitely could not hurt. Sales people are a passionate, obviouslypeople oriented, motivated and energetic bunch. An entrepreneurneeds to be everything in one. And one key ingredient to molding anentrepreneur is his/her ability is to be a good salesman. Why after allhow can run a business if you can't sell your product or service? Itobviously makes no sense whatsoever.
An entrepreneur either has to be the salesman or hire a kick asssalesman to help him with the job. Sometimes they cannot be in aposition to dish out a big figure salary for whatever factors be it juststarting out, saving money and what not. An entrepreneur is then forcedto sell and become the top salesman for his team. Factoring theircreative knowledge and natural sales abilities would determine whetheror not the entrepreneur is a good candidate to make his sales quotassucceed. However, if you want to run a business how can you run sucha business when you can't get people interested in your services?
Here are some sales tips from one hardworking entrepreneur toanother...
Tip 1. Be Passionate. Sales people are in nature passionate people.From my past experience, the best sales people love what they do. Theylove talking to the people, negotiating deals, the travel, and whateverelse comes with it. When you are passionate about something it shows.When you want something badly enough you can easily attain it. A greatsalesman has the knack to make a connection, to seal the deal. It's allabout reading people, their ability of people skills and their passions.When someone is not passionate it shows. You can just tell that theyhave no interest in what they are selling or whom they are dealing with.You can notice it by their expressions, their words and their overalldimeanor.
Tip 2. Don't be pushy. I personally, abhor pushy salespeople inbusiness. Good business etiquette involves being polite, well manneredand respectable. No one likes a pesky salesman. No one wants to bestalked, called on twenty times a day, visited at the office on surprise.You begin to act like a telemarketer and look at what America has doneto these folk. Why they can now be banned, blocked on our caller id's bycalling directory serice. Being pushy is tacky. Being sensibly aggressivein a polite manner is key.
Tip 3. Don't forget you are an entrepreneur. This is a tricky part. You canstill be a good salesman but never forget your main role. The role of anentrepreneur. It is easy to get caught up and overbalanced in certainpositions for the entrepreneur. You are a multi tasker. You need to beeverything at once and as a businessperson your responsibility to bethe sole proprietor comes first. Learn to be the salesman and at thesame time don't let it all get overbalanced. You will soon find yourselfout of whack and scatterred before you know it.
Tip 4. Compete. Selling is a tough thing to do. Selling a service in aworld full of competitors will make you or break you. As an entrepreneuryou should surround yourself around successful sales professionals.Observe them. Learn from them and learn what makes them tick. In myexperience working in a corporate environment and many aconversation with those savvy salespeople, I've learned a lot of greattips. A good salesman is always on top of his game. He is aware of hiscompetition, he is goal oriented, can communicate with people on alllevels, is a great talker, people reader and overall a competitive breed.A lot of this should rub off on you. It takes strategic business savvy skillsand tactics to sell your service successfully. Hard work andperserverance in the long run will take off.
Tip 5. The hungrier the better. We are all animals. A good salesmanknows what it's like to be full and what it is like to be hungry. Which oneare you? Hopefully you want to get to the level when your arereasonably feeling full the majority of the time. But ever notice when oneis hungry, what kinds of inner drives it all can produce? Sales peoplehave a hungry mentality. They need to sell, based on their own workingsurvival it is in their nature. Entrepreneurs face the same challenges.They are hungry in both ways. They need to sell their service to profit,they are both hungry to achieve this and at the same time need to getthe rest of their business off the ground.
Tip 6. Personality. It's all about your personality, your attitude and yourdimeanor that comes with it. If you want to be successful in this area youneed to be well liked. If you can't pass the first impressions, which is sotrue that first impressions are everlasting then you by far cannot sell yourproduct or service. When a company takes a liking to you they begin totake interest. And hooking the potential client to take an interest in whatyou offer is key. Naturally, thereafter you can pitch your idea, give themyour reasons and then it is up to them to make the ultimate decision.This determines point blank either they like you and your service or theydon't. Which would you prefer? So it is always best be on top of this andremember it's all about reading people and having stellar interpersonalskills. This is a key factor to potentially landing a new account.
Tip 7. I know as an entrepreneur you want to just run the business. Youare thinking, I am not a salesman I am an entrepreneur and that's a bigdifference. Very true indeed and their is no arguement in that. But to besuccessful you need to be up to par with what goes on and you can't beignorant to the fact that this is your business. You put all this time andenergy to make it happen and you have gotten so far. It does not hurt, infact it will benefit you a great deal to be knowledgeable as much as youcan on every aspect of running a business. With sales being a key factorin determing your success of your biz, any entrepreneur can benefit onbeing a kick butt salesman as well successfully running his/her owncompany.
As an entrepreneur, you should research for yourself what you feel willhelp you in the sales department. Evaluate yourself, your strengths andweaknesses, gain some hands on experience working for a bit with acompany in sales if you don't have a clue, talk with other successfulsales professionals for their tips and advice, do some research on theinternet, read up on sales trends and stay true to your entrepreneurialself at the same time. It's all for the best. In the meantime, the learningprocess is a fun one. You'll find yourself discovering things about youalong the way, you will be more knowledgeable about the the art ofselling and you will eventually learn to become a sharp sellingindividual. Apply this all to your business and the magic should beworking in no time.
About the Author:
Jennifer Lynn is an ecommerce entrepreneur, artist, writer, and musicianbased in New York-Chicago.
She has written and contributed numerous articles online about adultentertainment, entrepreneurship, ecommerce, technology, pop culture,generation x, quarter life and city trends & news.
A highly creative entrepreneur with focus in web marketing, businessdevelopment and ecommerce. Presently, she is involved in JMR, anonline referral biz for artists in the entertainment industry. She also runsother ecommerce sites including an interactive entertainment hub andher own personal site.
Before startin' JMR, Jennifer Lynn was a tech recruiter with a Chicagobased start-up company. She's also a professional pianist. JenniferLynn received her degree from De Paul University in liberal arts.
When she's not workin' away, you can find her lofting on a beach, intotravel, and dabbling in new creative ventures with artists &entrepreneurs around town.
Jennifer Lynn believes passion in doing what ever it is you love to do isthe key to one's personal success. |