“Sell this pen to me”
Do you recognize this famous phrase of Leonardo Di Caprio in the “Wolf of Wall Street”?
He interpreted the role of Jordan Belfort, a famous trader, as well known for his financial success as for the not very clear methods he used.
One thing is certain: he was a sacred salesman. A huge commercial. He could have sold a refrigerator to an Eskimo.
But push sales like that, is it for you?
You are not a salesperson. It seems obvious to you that selling has never been part of your strength.
Yet you know that selling is essential for your business.
You know that if you do not have customers, you do not have business running.
You realize that if people never hear about your products and services, they will not buy them.
You know that if you want to be independent, free of your choices and your life, you need clients and cash.
But for you it’s clear: pushing to buy, constrain, manipulate the spirits to achieve your ends is “no thanks! “.
There is another possibility …
So I’ll show you another way . There is a way to sell when you are an entrepreneur and a business owner . This specificity stems from several differences:
- You do not have only one “cap” in your daily life;
- You choose the overall strategy of your company;
- You have total responsibility for the process;
- You are in a comfortable position facing your client.
You must know how to sell your business, your products and your services so that your business is sustainable. You absolutely must not delegate it completely. In any case, not when you are alone.
So, I’ll teach you
Ten golden rules for you to succeed in selling without offering your soul to the devil.
1 / Without organization, no salvation
You are multitasking. Being an entrepreneur is the only job that requires being a manager, an accountant, a lawyer, a salesman, a marketer … You have to be everywhere at once.
And it’s extremely different from other commercials. Because they only have this function: sell and retain.
So you have to organize yourself to be effective. It will be your best weapon. The more hours you will give the sale will be framed and structured:
- The more results you will have;
- Less you will have to spend time on it.
For that, put in place these three principles:
a / Allow yourself a daily or weekly time for your commercial actions
A big secret of success among salespeople is regularity. Selling is a particularly long process. It must, therefore, be followed with diligence and rigor.
To do this, create a “prospecting time”, one hour per day or one morning per week. This moment will serve you to take stock, know your next actions and follow the news of your prospects. This will be a significant asset for the success of your business.
For example, I know that Thursday is dedicated in my week to this commercial follow-up. I TEMP perform most of my appointments, take stock of my current affairs and schedule the actions of the next week.
Be intransigent on this schedule. Make it a habit.
b / Be rigorous in your follow-up
Nothing worse than forgetting a big phone call. Or to no longer know where we met such person. Or spend three hours searching for a prospect’s phone number.
To avoid these difficulties , impose a strict follow-up and stick to it.
Record your appointments immediately in your calendar.
Note in the same place the next actions to take.
Especially no post-it for these reminders: as much put them directly in the trash.
Make it a habit to save recovered business cards at networking events.
Set up a simple business monitoring tool adapted to your business and your habits.
c / Have a perfectly clear agenda
Whether paper or digital, your agenda should be:
- Always at hand;
- Extremely readable;
- With a daily view (not a weekly view).
I use Google Calendar, synchronized with my various tools (crm, calendly). I’m sure I will not miss any appointments or deadlines.
Have time slots systematically blocked for your recurring tasks : commercial, administrative, communication, production.
For my part, I block Monday all day and three mornings a week for these different activities. The rest of my calendar is open to availability and opportunities. Do the same for your schedule.
2 / Always have three moves in advance
“Thoughts also need a fulcrum, otherwise they will spin on themselves in a crazy round. “ Stefan Zweig, The chess player
If you do not want to get lost, always have an action plan in mind . The further you will see, the faster and better you will conclude your sales.
You must not put yourself in default in front of your prospect to ask yourself: what now?
Always keep a “fulcrum”: your plan of action. Like chess, prepare several moves in advance.
For example :
You are about to call a prospect. Do not take the phone yet. Before ask yourself this question: “what should I do after this phone call? “
Several examples of actions are at your disposal:
- If the interview is going well, you send a thank you email and remind your next date of exchange;
- The day before the exchange, you will send him a confirmation email, and if he has not answered, you will call him in the morning to reconfirm;
- If the appointment does not succeed as expected, you send a thank you email and offer to keep in touch on social networks;
- You ask him in relation on Linkedin and if he has not answered within 15 days, you send him a request by email.
You have planned the different scenarios, and you are sure not to miss a step in your exchange. You could have gone even further (if I do not have it on the phone this morning, if it does not answer my email …).
Keep in mind that the more predictions you make in advance, the more relevant and effective your actions will be. And the more you convince prospects to become loyal customers.
3 / Opportunities are everywhere around you
Maurice, aged 45, is the head of a small cleaning company. Thirty employees work with a smile at several hundred customers. His credo has been the same since the creation of his company 20 years ago: “Happy customer, happy business”.
Marc is a commercial in a large cleanliness group. Five years that he exercises with passion and energy his job. His band is famous and works with the biggest names. He is proud of his work and leaves every morning to hunt new customers with a good mood.
One day, they find themselves competing against the same prospect: an antique furniture store. The content and cost of the service is the same. However, one of the quotes is in a much better position than the other.
Before answering, you should know that Maurice met the store’s boss at an information meeting at the Chamber of Commerce. They discussed both, boss to boss. The subjects were very varied and a bond of trust was established between the two.
Marc contacted the store five times on the phone before he could get his appointment. His rigor and self-sacrifice allowed him to reach his first goal.
Now tell me, which of these two companies is best placed in this fight?
You are right: Mauritius has every chance of winning the contract. Because as a business leader, he offers himself opportunities that no salesman could ever claim .
If you want that to happen to you too, I give you three tips:
a / Be as open-minded as possible, do not bet on any prejudice
This is the best advice I can give you. Clichés calm our minds. They have nothing rational: they are reflexes of survival.
Do not go into this trap .
Start each meeting by telling yourself, “This person has something in it that will impress me. What is it? “. And try to find out: you will be surprised.
b / Make people talk, talk very little about you
The logical consequence of being open-minded is that in practice, you will make people talk. The more they talk about them, the more you:
- Build trust
- You will identify possible connections;
- Know how to persuade them when the time comes.
This does not mean that we should not mention you . Respect the 80-20: listen 80% of the time, speak the remaining 20%.
c / Ask the help of your interlocutors, they will open the doors
In my opinion, this audacity translates into the simple fact of asking for help from your interlocutors. Most of the time, they will be happy to give you advice or help.
From the moment it is easy and fast, they will be happy to help you. Doing this will create opportunities you could never have dreamed of.
4 / Do not be afraid of closed doors
” I do not care “
One of the most feared phrases non-commercials.
Failure is, however, part of your day-to-day entrepreneur. You are always testing new things. Some fail. Others succeed a little. And a weak share cardboard.
It is important that you develop resilience to failure and rejection. For that, I have two tips:
a / Learn to emotionally manage refusals
Here is a very simple exercise to put in place: at the restaurant, always ask for a gift or a discount. You will have all the time (except rare exceptions) a refusal.
Thank the person for taking care to think about it, smile and pay for your entire bill.
It will not affect your day. But by repeating this exercise, you will learn to cash the refusals and to play down them.
b / Concentrate on your next actions
We are often afraid of failure when we feel it is our “only chance”. To break with this syndrome , the best way is to focus on your next commercial actions , namely what you can control.
For this, before an important meeting, take stock of all the commercial actions that you will have to lead the next day: make a mailing, go to a network evening, relaunch a contact. Systematically doing this gymnastics will send you into the future rather than the stress of the present.
This will make the situation worse because you will say to yourself: “At worst, I know what I have to do tomorrow”
