Whether you like or not, everyone’s a salesperson. What can you do about it? It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to convince your 3-year-old to take a bath, to book a better plain seat, or close a $10M deal, either way – you are trying to convince someone else to do something for you – and they’re doing the same for themselves.
And there’s nothing wrong about it, in fact, it’s natural. Since our brains are wired to help us survive, our minds constantly focus on our interests. Some people are feeling more comfortable about speaking out loud about what they want and need, in all areas of life, and some are consciously or subconsciously thinking about it. Again, it is something natural that most of the time happens without our control or say.
Given the fact that this is the reality we’re living in, what can you do about it? Does it mean that you have to be pushy and make sure you get ‘there’ on time before everybody will get there before you? Does that mean that good guys do finish last? Or does it simply mean, that once better understand it, you have a better chance of not only being better at this game, but also to enjoy it?
Your Uniqueness
As an individual, every place you go, and every interaction you hold, you are representing one thing or the other. The number of skills you have, the place you work for, the place you studied for, your family’s background, your favourite sports team, and even the entire sum of your experiences throughout your life. Every tiny comment you put forward shows a tiny reflection of the experiences you have had and gives people a glimpse of the type of individuals associated with the places you have worked with.
From a business point of view, no matter what company or industry you work for, how you present yourself before others act as a glimpse for selling off that industry or workplace. One thing that needs to be stated out loud – selling is a skill that isn’t only necessary in the sales field, it is a life skill everyone should be taught.
You are unique. Every person is. Why hide it?
Even if you’re an introvert, there are still ways to be better at expressing yourself, ways to enable you better communicate with others, and better sell yourself in a way that you’ll feel comfortable.
Some individuals are born sellers while others feel overwhelmed by the thought of doing so. Even so, at every point in life they encounter, they are selling themselves one way or the other. This rests our case – everyone’s a salesperson: what can you do about it? Many people don’t understand this and hence, don’t tend to reap the benefits of this point, but you definitely should – here’s how:
Speak The Language That Others Speak
In order to be a good seller of yourself, your skills, your desires, you need to have a great grasp on communication. The better you communicate with the other person, the better you will be able to get your message across in the correct manner. As this is done, your ‘sale’ may end up taking place, if the person is convinced. A great tool for assisting with that is obviously NLP, when NLP can completely change the way you communicate.
When acting as a salesperson, it is important for you to realize your position. You are trying to convince the other person to carry out a purchase, metaphorically. You want them to hire you for a job you require. However, for this, they need to know why the product (you) fulfills their needs or is a must-have for them. You need to communicate this clearly in the language that they understand.
If you are able to speak the language they speak, it will make the pitch about yourself more clear and chances of your ‘sale’ becoming successful will greatly rise. You do not want to make the person confused or to feel overwhelmed by the things you are saying. Try as much as possible to make your message concise and clear. Do not put forward too much information, first capture their attention, and then answer their questions if they have any.
It is also important to say that language does not only stand for wording, as the majority of human communication is non-verbal. Your tonality and your body language are transmitting much more than your words, so matching your non-verbal communication to the emotional-mental state of the person you are trying to convince, is something you should definitely have your attention on.
The easier and concise a language you choose to communicate in, the more to-the-point the ‘sale’ will be. The individual you are interacting with will also feel comfortable and more at ease when they have a more clear picture in their mind of what you are trying to sell – yourself.
Be In Their Shoes
Before you begin your persuasion or convincing speech, try to analyze the situation the other person is in. With a few statements, you will be able to understand what the person is actually looking for. In terms of the needs they are wishing to satisfy, they may be more open about this.
Through these points, you will better be able to understand where you stand and how you can fulfill these requirements. A question they must have in their mind before they ‘buy’ from you is, what is in it for them or their company/organization?
This is the question you should be ready to tackle. What it really means is; how are you better than others competing for this ‘position’ and how will you be beneficial for them or the company/organization in the long run? Many individuals tend to prepare for this question for before-hand, listing out the various qualities they have. Try differentiating your answer to this by tackling the details in this question, try focusing on the bottom line, on your value proposition, on how you can contribute.
Since you may have analyzed clearly the situation of the other person/company/organization and things they are in need of, you will have a better outlook on how to directly tackle this question by incorporating the details into your answer. You are bound to leave the prospective ’employers’ impressed with such a different solution
Divert Your Focus On Providing Benefits And Solutions
By any means, this does not mean you overly exaggerate your qualities. Remember that, ’employers’ have great experience in conducting ‘interviews’ and the slightest of over-exaggeration or over-selling oneself can lead an ‘interview’ that is going great, downhill.
The prospective ’employers’ understand that you have great qualities. They also know that you are a good candidate and know of the experience you hold as well. However, what they are looking for you to answer is, how can you use all those qualities to the benefit of their needs?
What impact can you make on them/company, that no other candidate can? What differentiates you from others? How can you provide benefits to them or their company/organization specifically?
Be prepared to answer this. You need to have a background of the person or company/organization you are approaching to do this. The more specific your answer is and the more aligned with the other side’s goals and needs it is, the greater the chance you have of leaving ’employers’ impressed.
What if you don’t have time to prepare and that’s a first frontal/telephonic encounter? Ask as many question as you can to gather information on the other side’s needs, and be confident in the value that you have to offer. Do your best, and be aware of your value.
Try to focus your answer on concise solutions, but make sure to tackle the details. You may have an idea about the person’s or company’s/organization’s core values and culture. Try to mold your answer in a way that is linked with your field of interest as well as being aligned with the vision or core values of the other side.
This will show your seriousness, investment, and appreciation of the other side, since you are dedicating a lot to please them.
Don’t Be Too Pushy About It
As it’s often rightfully said, ‘people like to buy, they don’t like to be sold to.’
You may want to put across all the skills, experience, and personality traits you have. However, the more you try to do this, the more forced your selling process will look.
Keep your answers concise and be very natural with them. Don’t try to overly sell yourself. Try being modest yet confident in the way you formulate your answers. The more natural you behave, the greater the chances you have of impressing the ‘buyer’.
The other side knows what they want and need, and they’re talking to you, they are – consciously and subconsciously – consider whether you can deliver or not. It’s your job to show them your capabilities for fulfilling their needs, but it’s theirs to decide. If they’re not interested, trying to convince them will only make them push you away more firmly, reducing your chances of ‘closing a deal’ with them in the future.
Accept the fact that you’re not going to succeed every time. Remember that sales, of all kinds, come and go all the time, but people come and go a lot less often. Therefore, don’t burn bridges, as the person that said ‘no’ to today might say ‘yes’ tomorrow, or tell their friends that might be a better fit, as long as you’ve made a good impression and showed that you can be valuable.
Trial And Error: Test Your Points And Tweak Them
There’s no doubt that you will have many ‘sales’ throughout life. A lot of them. For this reason, you do not need to stress so much. If a ‘sale’ does not go as wanted, don’t be too hard on yourself – it is not the end of the world. Instead, learn from it. What was something that you felt could have gone better? How can you change that and do something else in another sale?
Not every pitch you put forward will be a successful one. Take all ‘sales’ as a learning phase. Learn from the ones that go good and bad. Tweak the way you approach your ‘sales’ by learning from previous mistakes. The way you see people respond to you and the way you feel your answers could have been changed, don’t hesitate in doing so.
Everyone is learning as they go on with life. As a seller, you must be willing to try over and over again, with new tactics to make your sale successful. It is great to have hands-on experience from past ‘sales’ that happen face-to-face. These experiences provide that form of learning which you could not have learnt elsewhere.
You need to understand that, each interaction you carry out in today’s world is actually a sale. You are selling off things unknowingly at times. It is important to recognize this so you can use this life skill to your benefit. Try practicing the tips mentioned above to become better at selling.
And once you’ll accept that this is a natural part of life, it will feel less of an effort to you, to be aware of this process and learning on how to be better at it. Once you accept that you are not going to succeed every time, you have 2 options – either you make a sale, or you’re learning.
Once you practice accepting this process and beginning to let go of failures, you begin looking at it as a learning process, and the whole thing changes all of a sudden. It’s not a burden anymore or something that pushy people do, rather than a process where you can only gain from, either you earn a sale, or you’re earning the wisdom and experience that comes with the learning.
