Every salesperson wants to think of him or herself as powerful but, if asked, would have no idea where their power actually comes from.
Most salespeople fail to understand their own power. The reason they don’t is that there is a heavy concentration on what cannot be controlled or what is not being done.
This manifests itself in complaints about: price, unreturned phone calls, bidding, loyalty to others, and other various excuses about why a sale does not take place and the relationship isn’t being built.
As a salesperson, you have all the power in the world to make your own success happen. It’s not market conditions; it’s you’re mental conditions. It’s not customer conditions; it’s your failure to perform in a powerful way. And it’s certainly not the competition’s conditions; it’s your inability to prove value beyond doubt and risk.
Let me share with you the 20.5 powers that you do possess and how you might be able to use them and take advantage of them to build sales, build relationships, build referrals, earn testimonials, and achieve the sales success that you are striving for…
1. The power of a positive attitude. The way you dedicate yourself to the way you think creates the foundation for your entire life. Sales is part of your life and requires a positive attitude as fundamental and foundational to success.
2. The power of daily attitude actions. These are actions that you take both in your favor and in the favor of others. They’re not just positive; they’re powerful. Attitude actions create sales actions.
3. The power of belief. Belief in who you work for, what you’re selling, your ability to differentiate yourself from your competitor, and belief in yourself create the four cornerstones that enable your belief to be transferred to the customer.
4. The power of self-confidence. The power of self-confidence comes from thinking about past wins, and thinking about past accomplishments. Those thoughts become your inner confidence builder and manifest themselves in the self-confident appearance.
5. The power of thinking YES! The difference between thinking you can and thinking you cannot, will determine outcome and fate. KEY: Think yes to get yes.
6. The power of keeping conversational control. Salespeople have very little idea about what it takes to keep control of the sales conversation. The answer is in one word: ASK. When you ask you’re in control of the conversation. When the customer asks you, you have given up control. Control keeps you on the path to the sale. Want more control? Easy! Ask more questions.
7. The power of preparation. Most salespeople make the fatal mistake of only preparing in terms of themselves, when in fact the customer only cares about him or herself. They want ideas, value, and answers – not your canned slide show. They want to know how THEY win. Why not spend twice as much time preparing in terms of the customer? Preparation determines outcome.
8. The power of creativity. Creativity is a science, and you can learn it. It’s based on the perspective from which you see things. And once you begin to see things a little bit differently than others, you’ll become more creative. Your customer wants to know why and how you’re different from your competition. Creativity makes it evident.
9. The power of being memorable. For years I have said, “Find something personal. Do something memorable.” It’s all about a random act of kindness that has a direct emotional trigger to the heart of the customer. Whatever it is, it must relate to the customer and their passion. Whatever it is, it has to have a WOW impact.
10. The power of value. My mantra is, “Give value first.” That way the customer forms an impression of you that’s both positive and powerful. The more value you provide, the more powerful you will become, and the more sales you will make. And just so we understand the word value, it’s preceded by the word “perceived.” If the customer perceives value, then it is.
That’s the first ten powers of sales success. Study them to get a better understanding of your sales power sources. Implement them into your sales process, start to feel the boost, and get ready for the next 10.5 next week.
I have created a page of ideas to get your attitude rolling in the right direction. If you’d like them, go to www.gitomer.com and enter the words ATTITUDE STARTERS in the GitBit box.
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of twelve best-selling books including The Sales Bible and The Little Red Book of Selling. His forthcoming book, 21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling, will be available September 3rd, and will feature a national public seminar tour. Get the details at www.gitomer.com. It will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at salesman@gitomer.com.
