Those who cherish all-round success believe that success is a journey and not a destination. That is, if you are a very strongly-ambitious person, you must continue to set fresh goals for yourself to achieve success in other areas as soon as you have achieved success in one or some areas. Just like any journalist reporting can be called a “reporter” in some instances, irrespective of his or her official designation as an editor or otherwise, so can anybody that does one form of business or another be referred to as a “seller”.
So even if your job description is not officially that of a salesperson in your organization, you are indirectly a salesperson and need to learn the fundamentals of selling. That is why we are examining another critical area that you need to target success in this article.
1). Interpretation
Selling is basically about persuasion. That is, the art of getting people to go along with your points of view, to see everything your own way. Persuasion is the ability to induce beliefs and values in other people by influencing their thoughts and actions through specific strategies. The ability to influence the behavior of another person or group has been a necessary element in human culture since the beginning of time. In short, the greatest changes in the course of humanity have all been guided by individuals with mastery in the persuasion process.
2). Power of persuasion
The fact remains that whether or not you have had training in persuasive speaking, you are familiar with it and your happiness in your business engagements and success may largely depend on your persuasive skills. Paul Nelson and Judy Pearson, co-authors of “Confidence in Public Speaking” say whether you are selling a product, soliciting votes, marketing services, canvassing for donations, seeking a job or simply attempting to convince someone to believe as you do, you are engaging in persuasive speaking. The difference between an impotent conversationalist and the motivating communicator is the ability to persuade people to participate in win-win relationships. According to Dr. Kevin Hogan, author of “The Psychology of Persuasion”, the ability to communicate persuasively is a skill that can be used in all aspects of our personal or business life. As a salesperson, your sales will dramatically increase if you can master this art.
3). One important factor
One of the very important factors in persuasion is outcome-based thinking. Your state of mind is a very important thing to consider in the persuasion process. It is also very important to know the other person’s desired state of mind. When you determine this, you can persuade the person by showing him or her how to get there.
Whether you want to become a master persuader or simply a better communicator, it is important to take on the thinking process of a master persuader. Outcome-based thinking is simply about the ability to visualize the exact outcome of a process before beginning that process. It is like vision in goal-setting. It is the ability to set goals and keep them in mind all through the persuasion process. Obviously, outcome-based thinking can apply to much more than the persuasion process. It is very important because it is said that you must first succeed inside to be able to succeed outside or in real life.
4). Enthusiasm and motivation
To succeed as a salesperson, one important attribute you need to have is enthusiasm about your product. Every serious salesperson stresses enthusiasm as the most important asset in sales persuasion. You cannot be a top salesperson unless you genuinely believe in the value of your product or service and can enthusiastically convey that to your buyers. Beyond this, you need motivation.
