“Everyone lives by selling something. ” -Robert Louis Stevenson
It’s amazing how deeply sales are rooted into the daily life of an independent contracting company team. We are doing sales something all the time whether we realize it or not; and it is for this very reason sales can be considered a useful and essential life skill. Sales technicians inside the industries of HVAC, plumbing, or electrical in an independent contracting company implement strategic sales techniques into their sales presentations just as young job-seekers implement self-selling techniques into their job interview script. Some of these selling skills are subconscious but when you purposefully explore and learn these important skills that make up effective persuasion, selling, and closing then you are on the path to training yourself to be a credible, successful, and smart salesmen (whether in the competitive business world or simply in daily life). Today’s post will explore four of these important sales skills and how each effect individuals from a business and personal perspective:
-Attitude affects success.-
“Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman, not the attitude of the prospect.” -William Clement Stone
One’s attitude can naturally alter the mood and mindset of their prospects. Have you ever been around a genuinely happy person? If you have, you know that their optimism and positive outlook on situations and life is contagious. However, the same can be true of a negative person; their pessimistic attitude can also be transmitted to those around them. Thus it is vital to have a positive outlook and attitude in every selling situation because your prospects will subconsciously mimic your enthusiasm and attitude.
While prospects will most likely mimic the attitude of the selling technician, it is still important to possess a positive attitude no matter what the reaction of the prospect. Because maintaining an optimistic attitude allows you to keep the upper hand as well as maintain composure and control throughout the entire sales process. When you stay positive regardless of your outside circumstances, you can change the mood of a situation as well as grow your ability to be resilient and persuasive. If you teach yourself to be prone to positivity then you will begin to see every situation as an opportunity to learn and grow regardless of your disappointment or attainment at any given moment.
-Learning to read people and personalities provide insight to interaction.-
“The secret of man’s success resides in his insight into the moods of people, and his tact in dealing with them.” -J. G. Holland
When you learn to read people through their body language, tone of voice, and nonverbal communication you gain access to a whole new dimension of potential success in sales inside an HVAC, plumbing, or electrical independent contracting company. No matter what you’re selling whether a product, an independent contracting company, your credentials, or your ideas it is your prospect’s personality and body language that will reveal their true feelings and thoughts. When you realize this, you will have the ability to work to change or solidify your prospects’ opinion or thoughts about the product, idea, or company you’re selling. When you learn that particular people respond to sales differently depending upon their personality, you will learn how that particular person likes to close and what benefits of your product or idea this person will find most intriguing. For example, a person with an “Analytical” personality type will most likely want to know the hard facts, research, and numbers behind what you’re selling. An “Analytical” person may also want time to think in order to not be rushed to a close.
Just as reading personalities gives you vital insight, learning to reading an individual’s body language can do the same. For example, if your prospect is leaning forward in their seat, nodding ‘yes’, and making deliberate eye contact with you during your sales presentation then that may be a subconscious sign that they are ready to close the sale. Learning and training on personality types as well as nonverbal communication can make you a more convincing and relaxed sales technician as well as give you the important insight into situations before transitioning to a close or to the next step in your sales presentation inside your HVAC, plumbing, or electrical independent contracting company.
-Knowing what to say and how to say it to the right person at the right time develops your ability to close sales.-
“Always be closing. That doesn’t mean you’re always closing the deal, but it does mean that you need to be always closing on the next step in the process.” –Shane Gibson
Learning to read situations also goes hand-in–hand with learning to read people. When working to make a sale, it is vital that you know these four simple components: know what needs to be said, know how you should say it, know when you should say it, and know who you need to say it to (decision-makers). When you focus on effectively completing each of these components throughout your sales presentation you will be working towards attaining the “little yeses” throughout the sales process that compile to generate the final, “big yes.”
Focusing on what needs to be said is determined based off the initial reason that you are meeting the prospect as well as what is discovered throughout the sales call (other possible wants and other issues discovered in the diagnostic). Focusing on how to say what needs to be said depends on a number of things such as; your prospects personality type, how close you are to a close, how interested the prospect is, or the severity of an issue. Both what needs to be said and how it needs to be said must be determined as the sales presentation develops.
However, the “who” and the “when” of the sales process inside an HVAC, plumbing, or electrical independent contracting company are a bit more straightforward. When working to make a sell, it is important to determine right-off-the-bat that you are speaking with all the decision-makers in order to make the sales process as easy and comfortable as possible. After this has been determined as well as what and how information needs to be transmitted then you should focus on being receptive to when this information should be presented to your prospect. Keeping a keen focus on the “what,” “how,” “who,” and “when” of the sales process inside your independent contracting company allows you to make your sales presentation and interaction streamline, effective, and efficient.
-We learn from experiences whether successes or failures so reap knowledge from every situation and keep new skills on-hand for future situations.-
“In sales there are going to be times when you can’t make everyone happy. Don’t expect to and you won’t be disappointed. Just do your best for each client in each situation as it arises. Then, learn from each situation how to do it better the next time.” -Tom Hopkins
Lastly, it is always important to maintain an attitude and outlook of continual learning. When a sales technician or any person, for that matter, that is selling something understands that every situation they face, every person they talk with, and every success as well as every failure is an opportunity to learn then they will be on the track to building a strong foundation for success in sales. Learning how to graciously accept a “no” builds your perseverance, persistence, as well as makes the “yeses” that much more rewarding and satisfying. When you combine what you’ve learned from every situation with the feeling of success you get when you make a great sale, then you will develop more and more every day into a dynamite sales technician and orator.
Sales are a component of our daily lives whether selling our ideas, products, company, or ourselves. Success and growth in sales comes when we focus on maintaining a positive attitude, learn to effectively read people, understand the “what-how-who-when” of the sales process inside your independent contracting company, and work to make every experience an opportunity to learn. Thank you for following our weekly posts. Here at Service Excellence Training, we strive to turn your learning into earning!
-Resource curated by Whitney Stewart of Service Excellence Training.
