Sales 101 – Tips All Salespeople Should Know
Consistent sales are the lifeblood of any Business Owner, Sales Professional or Consultant, and you need to learn how to make your sales without winging it – which is why we’ve created this sales 101 list of requirements you should know.
In this article, we’ll be looking at eight sales 101 tips to help you win more sales and serve more people, in a consultative and non-pushy way.
Learn more: How To Stop Winging It, And Learn Exactly How To Close Consistent Sales With Ease
Sales 101 – Tips All Salespeople Should Know
Sales 101 Tip #1 – Have A Plan
Our first, and very important list of sales 101 tips is to have a plan; or road map in place for how you’ll achieve your goals.
Prior to working on your goal setting, identify who your buyer personas are, how they’ll benefit from your products or services, and how you’ll reach them.
To help you with this, click on the related articles below for further details.
Related article: Marketing Strategy 101 – What You Need To Know
Further article: Sales Targeting Strategy – Your Complete Guide
Sales 101 Tip #2 – Prospect Correctly
Another one of our important sales 101 tips is to keep your pipeline full of potential clients.
This is important because as mentioned, money and cash flow is the lifeblood of any business, and the more potential clients you get to talk to, the more you’ll be able to reach your own personal as well as business goals.
Depending on your business type or your products and services, there are two distinct prospecting strategies that you can implement.
These are:
- Inbound sales strategies
- Outbound sales strategies
Inbound sales are the method of setting up systems in your business, that drive potential clients to you.
Outbound sales are doing proactive, and sometimes manual outreach to people you can serve; and that will benefit from your products and services.
To learn how to set up a sales funnel and inbound sales systems for your business, click here for more info.
If you want to learn how to reach people from an outbound prospecting perspective, you may be interested in our cost effective program here.
Sales 101 Tip #3 – Your Sales Methodology
There are various types of sales methodologies, such as NEAT Selling, SNAP Selling, SPIN Selling, and of course – The 5% Sales Blueprint.
To learn more about sales methodologies and how you can implement them as a part of your sales strategy, check out the related article we’ve linked directly below.
Related article: The 5X Top Sales Methodologies For Sales Success
Sales 101 Tip # 4 – Asking The Right Questions
Many people think that the art of being a great Sales Professional or being successful in business, is knowing how to close.
Although asking for the order and closing is important, what’s more important and one of our sales 101 tips is knowing how to ask the right kind of questions.
Open-ended questions are crucial in sales, because it allows you to get in deep and learn about what it is in fact that your potential client is wanting to buy.
Getting under the surface and learning about your prospects situation, pain, desires, and the gap to get there is what will land you sales; versus trying to use old-school closing strategies that should have been left in the 1980’s.
Get great at asking open-ended questions, and you’ll be well on your way towards sales success.
Tip #5 – Beware Of ‘Premature Presentation’
Probably one of my biggest frustrations to date with Salespeople, is when they get lazy and present way too early.
We have no right to present an offer – if we don’t know what it is in fact that they truly want to buy.
As per our article on Entrepreneur, premature presentation is one of the leading killers for your sales success. It robs you the chance to truly serve your prospects, because it is a ‘spray and pray’ approach; hoping that something you say will stick.
One of our sales 101 tips is to instead find out what it is they need and leave the presentation until the end when they’re ready to hear how you will close the gap from where they are, to where they need to be.
What this does, is it positions you as a Trusted Adviser, rather than just another commodity looking for a quick sale.
Sales 101 Tip #6 – Eliminate Objections Early
One of our favourite sales 101 tips that we recommend you master, is eliminating the potential of objections coming up before you even start your sales dialogue with potential clients.
The way you do this, is setting up a pre-frame.
Also known as an intent statement, a pre-frame is putting boundaries (like a frame) around how the conversation will go, which creates certainty for both you and the prospect.
A pre-frame ensures:
- Decision makers are present
- Permission to ask deep diving questions
- A decision, or next step will be made clear
Further reading: How To Use The Intent Statement For Sales Success
Tip # 7 – Show Up Daily
If we all did something here and there, we wouldn’t get anywhere. Consistency is important, because things won’t always go to plan.
You will have rough days, and that is normal. We all go through sales slumps.
What’s more important though, is getting back up and being consistent; because you have to be in it to win it.
Whenever you’re feeling lost or in a slump, get together with your team and work out your goals, why they’re important, and refocus your attention on what’s important, and what matters.
Further reading: 5 x Ways To Pull Yourself Out of A Sales Slump
Tip # 8 – Invest In Yourself & Don’t Reinvent The Wheel
Would you allow a Lawyer to defend you, who last did their study or kept up to date with new laws 20 years ago?
Perhaps you require a medical procedure – would you allow a Medical Specialist to operate on you who only did any study whilst in medical school?
In order to excel at sales as well as one of our sales 101 tips, is that you need to train yourself in best practices, asking questions, building rapport, handling objections – and of course, asking for the sale in a non-pushy way.
Sales training is crucial for your sales success, because it’ll give you an exact road map you need to follow to win more sales.
Want To Close Sales Easier Without The Guesswork?
Are you committed to closing sales a lot easier, and consistently?
If so, you should check out our self-paced and affordable online sales training program; The 5% Sales Blueprint.
It’ll give you everything you need to close sales consistently.
To learn more, simply click on the link below for more information.
Our Online Sales Training Program – The 5% Sales Blueprint.
