Alignment as a Sales Strategy
One of the most intriguing forces of nature is alignment.
The way natural formations form, the way the sun and moon become visible to us at different times of the day, and the certainty of changing seasons all give us a sense of reliability and visible solutions to our lives.
Of all the qualities one needs to succeed in life, alignment is the least considered and the most valuable.
That is especially true in achieving excellence in sales.
Great sales careers exist when a person is able to align their attitude and actions into one.
That has never been truer than today, when customers are smarter and more informed than the buyers of any previous generation. With the flick of a few fingers on a keyboard, they can compare prices and model designs, see what your competitors are offering, and study which precise features will work best for them.
They don’t even have to work hard or make phone calls or store visits to get this information. They can literally do this sitting in their pajamas at 2 a.m. when they can’t sleep.
To be a match for these savvy customers, you need to work smarter than ever and think more innovative than ever before. If you can’t align your attitude with your actions, it will be very difficult to turn yourself into a powerful sales professional.
The attitude of the best sales people is one of helpfulness. They are trusted advisors, problem solvers. This is so inherent to the way they work that they no longer distinguish this attitude of helpfulness from the attitude of securing a sale. They want to make the world of their customers a little better and they have the means to accomplish that. It is just a coincidence in their minds that the means is one of their services or products.
Why is this so important?
Because authentic relationships generate more sales than any other strategy.
Build a strong connection with your customer instead of just trying to persuade them to invest in what you are selling.
If you push your product on people so hard that they break under your pressure and buy it even when it is not right for them, you haven’t made a sales call.
You’ve made a greed call.
And the thing about greed is that it is so ugly you can fool people with it once, but never a second time.
Greed doesn’t get you invited back to the table. It doesn’t prompt people to share good stories about you.
The first thing that happens when you align your attitude of helpfulness with your actions on a sales call is that that you find yourself listening more than you speak.
Sales isn’t about the aggressive action of pitching. It is about the gentle action of pulling, and it starts with pulling the whole story out of your client. It starts with determining the problem they have that needs solving.
You don’t need the gift of gab in sales; you need the skill of listening. Find out what their problems are, what challenges they face, what would make their work and life easier, and only then do you reach into your bag of services or products and offer a custom solution.
By listening, you learn crucial business intelligence that you can use to make more sales than if you just go in with a one-service or one-product agenda.
You also give the client a feeling that they are being understood, and that you know and care about their situation. They get so they want to deal with you because they believe that you are aligned with their business. And that is the second part of the importance of alignment.
“Lead with your ears,” is the way Don Hutson, co-author of the One Minute Entrepreneur puts it. He is a sales growth specialist and he tells people time and time again to list, because even if you don’t make a sale on that specific day, the information you gather will help your company create new solutions and sell more in the future.
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Paula Morand is a leadership building, revenue boosting, strategy expanding keynote speaker, author and visionary. This dreaming big and being bold leadership expert and brand strategist brings her vibrant energy, humor and wisdom to ignite individuals, organizations and communities to lead change, growth and impact in a more bold fashion. 24 years, 27,000 clients, 34 countries, 15 books, former radio personality, 11x award winning entrepreneur and humorous emcee.
Check out Paula’s best selling books: “Bold Courage: How Owning Your Awesome Changes Everything”, “Dreaming BIG and Being BOLD: Inspiring stories from Trailblazers, Visionaries and Change Makers” book series; and due to be released December 6th “Bold Vision: A Leader’s Playbook for Managing Growth” go to Amazon http://ow.ly/i8yW307ix67
Speaking inquiries email bookings@paulamorand.com or call toll-free 1-888-502-6317.