Sales Coaching

7 Obstacles That Hold Sales Professionals Back and What You Can Do to Overcome Them

To be successful in sales you must overcome 7 obstacles. Almost every sales professional runs into these obstacles at some point in their career. For many these obstacles continue to reoccur. These obstacles are not always addressed in sales training, which is why we advocate an ongoing sales coaching relationship. As you read, assess your sales skills and your effectiveness at overcoming these challenges. By conquering them you will be able to take your sales performance to a whole new level.

Obstacle #1: Fear of the “No”. Much has been written about the fear of rejection but it still remains an issue for many sales people. I find that it is helpful to give my prospects a “no-option” right up front! My product/service is not for everyone. I don’t want anyone to feel manipulated or disrespectfully coerced. Neither do I want any “buyers-remorse.” When people say “yes” to me I want them to truly want what I am offering. I want it to be a “win-win” situation. Otherwise there is no hope for a long-term relationship.

As a sales professional you need to truly believe in your product or service. You need to be passionate and enthusiastic about what you are offering. You need to communicate the unique benefits of buying from you. But in the end, if the prospect says “no” it does not diminish the value of your product/service, and it is not a personal rejection of you. You must differentiate that within yourself in order to succeed.

Obstacle #2: Not Being Prepared. It’s very important that you prepare before making the sales contact. I know that there are times when selling opportunities present themselves serendipitously, but most of the time you will have an opportunity to prepare before the contact.

For me, preparation involves going to the prospect’s website, blog, or social media sites before the contact. There I want to learn everything I can about the company and the individual that I will be meeting with. Prospects are typically very impressed if they see that you have done your homework. They feel valued and respected.

I also want to prepare my attitude. I want to go in with the right mindset, being customer-centered and customer-focused. I want to be optimistic and visualize this prospect becoming my customer. I want to anticipate as much as possible what will happen in this conversation. However, I always want to remain flexible and open to the unexpected.

It is very important to be prepared. I would encourage you to develop a system for personal preparation and use that system every time you make a contact.

Obstacle #3: Focusing on Yourself Rather Than Your Prospective Customer. I alluded to this in Obstacle #2. It is very important that you focus on the other person. Your attention and your energy must be directed to understanding them and serving them. This contact is not about me. It is about the prospective customer, about their wants and needs. We must be tuned in to them before and during the contact.

There is a Hebrew Proverb that says “The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.” I want to understand my prospect (if possible) better than he understands himself. I do not want to be preoccupied with my fear, my discomfort, or my ideas. I want to be totally present for my prospect in that moment of contact.

Obstacle #4: Failure to Listen During the Selling Conversation. The most important tools you have in the selling conversation are questions. The quality of your selling is directly related to the quality of your questions. You must go prepared with good questions and then be ready to ask more questions as they surface in the conversation.

Questions are essential to help you get to know your prospect and to understand what their needs are. I always encourage my clients to prepare good questions ahead of time so that they will be asking better questions than their competition.

However, it is not enough to just ask questions. You must also listen carefully to what they are saying. When appropriate, say back to them what you hear them saying. Listen beneath the words. What are they feeling in the moment of the conversation? How is my question impacting them? Listen and observe. Let them do most of the talking as you guide the conversation with powerful questions.

Obstacle #5: Not Keeping Your Promises. It amazes me how many people do not follow through and do what they say they will do. Successful sales professionals keep their word! They stand behind their promises no matter how difficult or inconvenient.

Prospects are asking themselves one primary question, “Can I trust you?” If you fail to keep your word in the initial meetings or the sales process, it is likely that the prospect will assess you as unreliable and/or dishonest. Bottomline: Keep your word!

Obstacle #6: Inability to Close the Sale. In my early days of selling this was a huge problem and I’ve discovered that it is for many other people as well. I could have a great conversation, ask some good questions, and uncover some clear needs that we could meet. But when the time came to close the sale something happened and I walked away empty-handed.

Always remember that people buy based on emotion, and they justify with logic. In other words, every buying decision is an emotional decision. A good selling conversation will guide you into the prospect’s points of pain and passion. If you never uncover pain or passion you will probably never close the sale.

The 3 keys to a successful close are emotions, buying signals, and questions. Through your conversation look for the moments of emotion. Don’t be afraid to linger there. Also be watching for both verbal and visual buying signals. And then, when the time seems right, ask the closing question.

There is an art to this but with practice and evaluation you will be able to improve your ability to close the sale. You might consider engaging a coach to help you with your questions and scripts, as well as to help you increase in your self-awareness and other-awareness.

Obstacle #7: Failure to Continuously Improve. Leaders are learners, and successful sales professionals are always learning and improving their skills and their mindset. Both require attention and intentional development. No doubt you are reading this article because you want to improve. Let me encourage you to continuously read, observe, engage mentors, attend seminars, talk to colleagues, and evaluate your selling experiences. Be an aggressive learner and you will become a top notch sales professional!

As you increasingly overcome these obstacles you will gain more confidence and improve your sales performance. I believe that you will fall in love with selling and begin to see it as “serving” rather than taking! You will gain greater financial success and enjoy the fruit of a growing network of people who appreciate you. And you will realize the enormous potential you have to succeed in sales.

To learn more about how we help sales professionals go to www.TheGrowthCoachHouston.com/increase-your-sales/.

D. Glenn Smith is CEO and Lead Coach at The Growth Coach Houston, a business coaching firm whose mission is to empower business owners and sales professionals to achieve exceptional performance in their businesses and to live extraordinary lives. Glenn has over 30 years of experience and has coached business and organizational leaders on 5 continents. He is a sought after motivational speaker who has spoken to groups of 20 to 2,000, including several national franchises. For more FREE resources go to http://www.TheGrowthCoachHouston.com.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/D_Glenn_Smith/877909

MyOrbit Blogs

2011 New Year Wishes for You

Dear Friends,

2011 is here and we have a whole new year to spend! A year is a lot of time and a lot can be achieved if you have a plan. There’s a saying: Failing to plan is like planning to fail. I wish you have a great plan for 2011, if not, now is a great time to do it.

One thing I have learned over time, and it gets reinforced every new year, is that action is more important than plan. I know this because I myself have not executed some of my plans, and the lack of full-throttle action on some plans is my own shortcoming that I want to overcome this year. Action is really important because every plan that goes into action brings back results or learning for future. For example, I advised 3 companies in 2010 on how to increase their sales, but only one company actually executed the plan and that company saw 50% increase in sales. My advise for their plan was less important than their action to execute the plan.

Another example, over the last couple of years, many investors took my inputs on what to invest, what price to buy etc, but very few actually took the action for whatever reasons. And we all know the global stock markets have recovered very well in the last two years. Those who took action have profited, and I know many investors who took the inputs but are still waiting; when stock prices fall 20%, they want to wait for 30-40% fall, and if that also happened, they want to wait a bit more to see, and if stock prices start rising after a fall, they don’t want to buy at higher prices than the recent low prices. This may sound extreme but its very common. Courage is the most scarce commodity among us humans. When we have more of this one attribute, it can put a lot of things in place.

I wish you a happy new year. May you achieve great success in your plans.

cheers,
Shankar

MyOrbit Blogs

Daily Time Management

Time is our greatest resource. Nobody can stop or stock time. Everyone will have the same 24 hours per day. What we do with this time decides where we go in life. We never seem to have enough of it and it seems to pass so quickly. What we can do is make the most of the time we have. Here are 7 simple steps to get the most out of each day.

1. Plan your day the night before – At the end of each day write out all the things you need to do the following day to achieve your goals. Pull together all the information you’ll need, phone numbers and relevant paperwork.

2. Prioritise the list – Number each item and do the nasty jobs first. There’s always the temptation to do the easy jobs first. However, think how the thought of doing the nasty jobs hangs over you as you do the easy stuff. Think how good you’ll feel when the nasties are out of the way and how motivated you’ll feel. Continue reading →

Leadership

Potential Leadership Growth: Discover To See If You Are Truly Leading

Potential leadership growth is one of the few business disciplines these days that needs more honest scrutiny. Whether you’re dealing with leadership styles, leadership skills, or attempting to determine a leadership and development plan, personal development is key when building a successful LIFE and business online or off-line.

The choice for personal development and leadership development is really up to the individual. Each person must decide what they will do when it comes to:

  • Self Mastery
  • Taking Action
  • Developing Positive Relationships

 

Honestly spoken, two types of Leaders exist within the self development arena. 1) Leaders and 2) Those Who Lead. Leaders are usually those in prominent positions, like a CEO of a major corporation. Nothing wrong with that.

However, Those Who Lead are leaders who may not be in a CEO position; yet, for the most part, they are more effective leaders because they know WHY they do what they do! They know their calling and purpose in life.

Even if you have the best laid out leadership program, how will you know that you’re reaching your potential leadership growth and developing your leadership qualities that really make the difference?

The following 8 keys to leadership training and leadership development success will help you determine if you are truly leading or just “sucking exhaust!”

KEY 1: OPPORTUNITY
Those Who Lead look for opportunity that help to discover leadership potential. Opportunity exists everywhere! Whether you’re wanting to own your own business, make money online, or start a brick-and-mortar business, opportunities are just lying around for the taking.

Those Who Lead know where to look and what steps to take. They are not afraid to take opportunity “by the horns.” Once you’ve done this, the sky is the limit.

KEY 2: NETWORK
When training for leadership, Those Who Lead know that their “net worth” is proportional to their “network.” Who do you know that will help you succeed and get what you want in life? Which friends do you currently have: Positive or Negative?

Your particular network will determine how successful you can become. Those Who Lead will emulate those whom they associate with in efforts to affect their potential leadership growth.

KEY 3: LEVERAGE
A crucial leadership skill is the use of leverage. Those Who Lead are efficient at leveraging other people’s money, other people’s experiences, and other people’s time. It’s a leadership skill that few ever really develop and implement well when determining potential leadership growth.

KEY 4: FAMILY
Those Who Lead realized the importance and priority of family. They realize that family must come first and business second. They know that it is not worth it to have a successful business AND lose family in the process. It’s just NOT worth it! When it comes to potential leadership growth, be sure to have time for yourself and those whom you love.

KEY 5: RECIPROCITY
Those Who Lead believe in reciprocity, where a Give and Take relationship is understood. Successful entrepreneurs realize that it is better to GIVE than to RECEIVE and that there’s power in the heart of a giver.

KEY 6: PROOF
Those Who Lead establish social proof. It doesn’t matter how many skills you learn, how much knowledge you gain, or how many books you read, without the proof of taking action and getting results, what you do for potential leadership growth is in vain.

KEY 7: CHANGE
Those Who Lead know how vital it is to master change. They know that change is inevitable and that if they do not master change, change will master them. Therefore, change within potential leadership growth doesn’t frighten them.

In fact, change is encouraged! Those Who Lead know that the BIGGER the challenge and intense the change, the more glory there is in overcoming it.

KEY 8: PASSION
Among all the keys to leadership training and leadership development, in the area of personal development, Those Who Lead believe passion plays a huge part in potential leadership growth.

Known to be love and anger all wrapped up into one immense, emotional principal, PASSION illustrates WHY you do what you do. Passion drives you to excellent greatness! Those Who Lead do not rely merely on emotion, but rely on the TRUTH as well.

In conclusion, no matter what you plan on doing for potential leadership growth, know that if you develop and understand these 8 key truths to personal development as an entrepreneur, you will succeed in both life and in business…with a healthy family life as well!

Robert {Bryan} Anthony is a rising Certified Affiliate Online Marketer and Life Coach providing relevant solutions, mentoring, and value to home business owners and network marketers, encouraging them to create their own success story. He teaches how to Start a Home Based Biz using Integrity and Well-Sought after business training.

You can discover more about developing your leadership potential as you discover the answers to 20 most often asked questions about Starting a Home Based Biz. Get 20 FREE Videos at [http://StartAHomeBasedBiz.com]

Also, be sure to join Bryan and the excitement as you become a part of an exclusive group he is currently assisting…a work in progress at [http://MeetRBryanAnthony.com]

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Robert_Bryan_Anthony/721011

 

Capital Markets, Energy, People, Technology

Dhirubhai Ambani

dhirubhai-ambani

Dhirubhai Ambani is the founder of Reliance Industries Ltd, which is today the largest private sector company in India, and one of the largest contributors to income tax to the Govt of India.

Today the Reliance group has multiple companies that are run by his two sons: Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani, who have different management styles but very capable and effective in their own ways.

Dhirubhai Ambani was a keen observer, constant learner, and he took calculated risks. Some of them went right, and some did not. He was pragmatic in solving problems and he understood people very well. He believed in new technology, youth and speed.

Above all, he was a generous person with a good heart. Dec 28 is his birthday. Thank you Dhirubhai for everything. Your advice and guidance is really appreciated!