So you have decided to go into sales, first you need to make yourself a very important question: do I really want to do this for a living? On the answer to this question depends your future as a salesman. Know the eight key factors that will help you discover if sales really is for you.
1. Determine why you want to be a salesman. If you were in a conversation with someone and you were asked: ‘Why do you want to go into sales?’ what would you answer? A lot of people answer that money is their motivation, and quite frankly that’s not the best answer. If this is your case, be careful! If all you want is money and you’re not doing something you really like, it’ll be twice as difficult for you to get the economic rewards you want. Remember: money is only a consequence, a byproduct. If you set yourself to do something you really like, something you fell passionate about, then everything you see, read, listen to, study and do you will do it with joy, hence you’ll be very good at it and money will find its way to you.
2. Can you easily reject other professions? Don’t be distracted and focus. What would happen if in this very moment you were faced with an alternative to perform a professional activity other than sales? Would you take it? If your answer is ‘no’ then you have taken the best choice. Commit yourself to what you like to do. Don’t waste your time in other activities you’re not really interested in.
3. Know your strengths and exploit them. It’s always better to develop a person’s strengths than trying to complement his or her weaknesses. Try to identify your strengths and devote yourself to develop, grow and perfect them. If selling is your vocation, this is the most effective way to become a notable sales professional with excellent economic results.
4. Dedicate yourself to what you really like. Where there’s joy there’s success. Consider how satisfied you are with the professional activity your performing now and evaluate if this is really what you wish for. If it’s not then it might be worth it to change the path. Many times we can have what we want right under our noses, but we go out some other place looking for it. Ask yourself: what I do right now, is it really what I dream of doing?
5. Learn the secrets of great salesmen. There are four characteristics that define the best:
* Passion for selling. This is the inner strength generated by a person when he or she is motivated and commitment to his or her activity. Passion and conviction go hand in hand.
* Persistence. You must be able to achieve what you want and avoid giving up at first sight of hardship or failure.
* Ambition. A salesman who is not ambitious is not a winner. You must have the profound desire to discover, keep and broaden prospects and clients.
* Preparedness. A salesman who does not know how to sell and doesn’t know his or her product will definitely not be successful. He or she might have passion, might be persistent and ambitious but if the client asks for a comparison with a competing product and the salesman doesn’t have enough information or doesn’t possess the skills to do it then the previous traits will be of no use.
6. Recognize in yourself a successful salesman. Successful salesmen are successful because:
* They have clear, honest and ethical ambitions.
* They know the best techniques and have the necessary skills.
* They take interest in the success of all three: the client’s, the company’s and his own.
* They don’t have to be salesmen, they want to be salesmen!
The causes salesmen fail can be found in the following five:
* They are not doing what they want to do.
* They feel obligated or forced to be in sales.
* They lack interest in the well-being of his or her prospects or clients.
* They are not prepared and are not honest to themselves.
* Because they have to be and don’t want to be.
7. Are you willing to have a 24×7 workweek? If you’re willing to be ‘in touch’ with your clients 24 hours a day 7 days a week then you’re on the right path. If you’re not then you might be better off doing something else, not sales. Dare to seize every opportunity you get to contact new prospects but don’t just forget about the ones you already have. New prospects can help generate new sales, but if you are careful and build relationships with your current prospects and clients they are sure to generate sales after sales month after month.
8. The power of professional and economic rewards. Remember that when you love what you do, success, fame and fortune become natural consequences, not the objective. If this is not your case, look for you passion, your vocation and pursue self fulfillment in that field or activity, If you do then life will be more fun, more prosperous and with less visits to the doctor.