The Secret Nature of Success in Sales Exposed! (Part 2)

(Note: This post is part 2 of a weekly five-part series on forming an overall digital marketing and sales strategy. Make sure to subscribe to the blog to see the next three parts!)

Sales are not, nor will they ever be, dead.

The art of the sale, like any art form, only grows with practice. We all sell every day, we just don't realize it. A sale is simply an exchange between two people of items or services of value. The art of selling is all about evolution and growth. The best modern salespeople have grown from the ground-pounding door-to-door guy, smiling-and-dialing telemarketer, crafty-car-salesperson, into the modern-day marketer and caring consultant. Why? Because in the United States alone, service has become a $9.8 Trillion industry.

“…neither you nor I want to buy anything. If we did, we would go out and buy it. Both of us are eternally interested in solving our problems... If salespeople can show us how their services or merchandise will help us solve our problems, they won't need to sell us. We'll buy. And customers like to feel that they are buying, not being sold." -Dale Carnegie, “How to Win Friends and Influence People” 

Oh yes dear friends, Sales have evolved. No longer can I tell you what you want or need and expect to be successful. Success is a consultative sales process. This process is personal. It comes from building trust and listening to needs before even considering solutions. We must recognize that each client may have similar issues to others we’ve worked with, but their problems are, in fact, unique. Companies must go out of their way to fully understand the needs and wants of their target consumers; not just assume they know. We can’t solve problems we think we understand.

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To be Successful in the Art of Selling, You Must Qualify your Leads

It’s a basic sales principle as old as the exchange, but truer now than ever. Sure, you might catch a lead if you take a shotgun 100 call/email-per-day approach. Sales are, after all, a numbers game… right? Yes, however, you bag a bigger prize when you take your time to get it right. There truly is no one-size-fits-all approach to selling. Creating an untargeted single ad and expecting results is a foolish waste of money. Take the time to qualify your leads, understand their needs and problems, and how to solve them—before you go on the attack! Research is always a good investment of time!

“People don’t buy products. They don’t buy services. They buy solutions.” – Dr. John Wong, Dean’s Professor of Sales and Marketing, Ivy College of Business, Iowa State University

The Big Secret

It's simple. To be successful in sales, seek to become a personal seller. Focus on building value before asking for something in return. To do this you must first understand what your audience finds valuable. Only after you have provided value and built trust have you truly earned the right to ask for the sacred exchange known as the sale.

"Seek first to understand, then be understood." - Dr. Stephen Covey, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"

Join us Next Week for Part 3 where we will discuss the secret of building brand awareness! If you can't wait until next week, reach out to start the conversation! 

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