What do you think of when you hear the word “asset”? Gold, money, property usually come to mind, but I’m talking about assets in sales. Useful or valuable qualities needed to succeed in the sales profession.
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S.E.L.L.I.N.G. is an easy acronym for the 7 assets needed to succeed in sales:
Solution-focused: There are many people who can tell you why something WON’T work. Many people will tell you it’s been tried before and can’t be done. Many people are experts on PROBLEMS. Few people are sales experts on SOLUTIONS. Your customers already know their problems. Your customers are looking to you for solutions.
Ethical: This doesn’t easily come to mind when people think of sales. Most of us think of used car salespeople trying to sell us a car that will FALL APART the minute we drive it off the lot! As sales professionals, we must hold ourselves to the highest ethical standard to earn the trust of customers. That means being honest and fair. Ethical.
Learners: The most successful sales professionals are life-long learners. They’re always learning about industry best practices, market trends and customer needs. They’re always improving their communication, negotiation and presentation skills. What’s the last book you read? What’s the last sales course you attended? What’s NEXT?
Listeners: I’ve had sales professionals tell me in confidence that they’re not sure they could succeed in sales. When I ask why, they tell me that they’re not that talkative with customers. I respond by saying that’s GOOD! Sales professionals should be listening 80% of the time and only talking 20% of the time. Of that 20%, half of that should be asking questions. That leaves only 10% for selling and telling.
Industrious: Are you a hard worker? There’s a direct relationship between today’s efforts and tomorrow’s rewards. Most sales professionals only ask for the sale once and have a closing rate of 20%. Sales professionals who ask for the sale at least four times have a closing rate of 80%. Perseverance and persistence are the keys to success.
Neighborly: Most sales professionals only contact customers twice. To close deals and collect payments. That’s not neighborly. If one of your customers saw you in the mall on the weekend, would they run TOWARDS you or run AWAY from you? Good neighbors are considerate, friendly and helpful. When’s the last time you did something nice for your customer, without expecting anything in return?
Goal-oriented: Top performing sales professionals are goal-oriented. They focus on KPIs, metrics and targets. They focus on their annual, quarterly and monthly targets. They focus on their targets versus actuals. Always ask yourself these two questions. How do I STAY on track? How do I get BACK on track?
What is your most valuable S.E.L.L.I.N.G. asset? Do more of what’s working!
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