3 Inspirational Strategies to Selling
I have been in Hawaii for the past week leading an innovative set of sales workshops for one of my favorite financial services clients. Yes, I know, not a bad job right, getting to work in Hawaii? Now while I love the location, and my client, I have to admit I was far more pumped up and excited about the innovative and unique sales workshops I was leading.
Why? Because, unlike traditional sales workshops, the programs I was leading do so much more than just teach participants how to sell, they teach them how to get results. I was lucky enough to be unveiling a new type of sales workshop, one that focuses on the real issues around sales. This new sales workshop promises a triple threat. A triple threat of much needed sales skills, tools every seller needs to decrease the pressure and stress of selling, and the inspiration and confidence to want to run out the door and take action.
Teaching people to sell is one thing, inspiring them to sell is another. And isn’t an inspired team the goal and the whole reason you are holding a sales workshop? Aren’t you aiming for a fully engaged team that not only knows how to sell, but a team that enjoys connecting with clients, wants to sell, and a team that takes action?
Of course, and that is exactly why we created this workshop. The session begins by engaging the team in a good ole fashioned “gripe” session. They put out on the table everything they fear, don’t like and worry about when it comes to sales. Now no shock here; we heard things like “stress of having and making goals,” “how to handle and deal with rejection,” “finding the time to sell”, and “tough competition.” Nothing out of the ordinary, and nothing none of us, who lead sales teams, have not heard hundreds of times. And all sales team leaders know, if your team is feeling nothing but these worries and frustrations, and is disengaged, your sales team won’t last long.
So, we then switched the conversation to the “big picture” session; a solution session; a session that got them telling us why selling is important. This piece was powerful. The same individuals who had just admitted they fear selling turned around and provided every reason they could think of as to why sales is critical for our success. And they delivered perfect answers like “our customers need these products and services,” “this is how we make a profit, and we need a profit so I can get paid,” and my personal favorite, “if we don’t sell to our customers our competition will.”
At this point all the cards are on the table, and a gap is identified. If you want to do more than teach people to sell, if you want to inspire them to sell, then you need to deal with the reality of that gap. I feel safe in saying that we all have this challenge in our organizations. On one hand, we have a team that understands the value of and importance of selling, on the other, we have a team that admittedly is unsure of how to be successful at doing so. This gap, where the stress of sales prohibits your team from moving forward, is the reason that traditional selling workshops fail, and why this new innovative approach works. In this new series of workshops we dive in and move teams past their fear and uncertainty of how to sell and further support and create the understanding of why we need to.
This workshop delivers; it focuses on the three strategies you need to close the gap between knowing how to sell and feeling confident in selling. These 3 strategies will help you and your team decrease sales stress, and create inspiration to run out the door and start selling.
3 Inspirational Strategies to Stress-Free Sales!
- Lifestyle Not A Task – decrease the stress by helping your team learn to make sales a lifestyle, not a task. The stress of selling comes when we sell only because we need the sales. In this economy, you have to sell whether you need the sale or not; selling from a place of power rather than a place of need. When you’re able to live day-to-day in this place of power and you’re connecting with your clients on a regular basis, selling is no longer a stress.
- Productive vs. Busy – We all know that being busy feels horrible (and leads to even more stress), but being productive boosts our confidence and breeds more productivity! The only way to have time to sell is to make the time to sell, and understanding which sales behaviors are merely busy work, and which move the process forward. Part of teaching people to sell is helping them understand the difference between being productive and busy, and why being productive is the goal. Then give them the tools to apply productive behaviors, and the critical thinking skills to know the difference.
- HELP – The “GOOD” Four Letter Word – last but not least learn to ask for help whether you need it or not. Sales is a process of continued improvement, a skill that we only get better at, not one we ever master. Want to take the pressure and fear out of sales? Then stay in learning mode, asking others how they do it, asking for feedback, and constantly learning from the masters the true secrets to sales success. Remember, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with; so surround yourself with five successful sellers and you will become a master yourself.
So yes, you can decrease your stress and increase your profits when it comes to sales! You can create a team that is ready to run out the door and start selling! But to do that you have to understand what your team needs and be willing to take an innovative and unique approach to how you teach your team to sell. You need to implement these 3 inspirational strategies to stress-free sales!
I am, as I write this, on a plane headed home, and while I should be sad to be leaving Hawaii, in truth I cannot wait to get home and start this process all over again. I cannot wait until next week, when I get to run out the door and start selling!
Motivational Keynote Speaker & Business Growth Expert, Meridith Elliott Powell, works with clients to help them instill ownership at every level to ensure profits at every turn. Click here for 3 Sure Fire Tips To Get Your Team To Instill Ownership At Every Level, To Get Profits At Every Turn! Meridith is the author of several books, including her latest, Winning In The Trust & Value Economy: a professionals guide to business and sales success. When not keynoting and leading workshops, she looks for inspiration cycling, golfing or hiking her favorite trail. https://meridithelliottpowell.com
