What makes the difference when you work in Direct Sales? When you look at nearly any successful direct sales company, regardless of product or service, there is generally a great divide between the top sales people, and the sales people that are just “getting by.” Why? Is it something that takes time to create?
Believe it or not, there are three keys that catapult average sales people into the top 5% in their fields. No matter the company, these things make all the difference, and they’re changes that you can put into place TODAY.
Enthusiasm – When you sell direct, are you walking up to a prospect in a “salesmany” way, or are you approaching them with a confident smile, a sparkle in your eye, and a the look of someone that they’d like to spend time with? Put yourself in any situation where you’re on the receiving end of someone approaching you. It may be in a traditional sales atmosphere, or you could even think about a dating situation where someone is simply trying to introduce themselves to you. In either case, the person who is going to have the most success starting a conversation with you is not going to be the apprehensive, nervous, or apathetic person, it’s going to be the confident, enthusiastic person that walks up. Especially if you’re working door to door, nobody wants to have a person in their house or business office that they might consider creepy, and when you’re nervous, that’s what you come off as!
Conviction – Please don’t mistake this as having just been released from jail! By convicted, I mean that you have a sense of purpose, and that you’re expecting to sit down with the prospect, and that you fully expect them to purchase the product or the service that you’re selling. Conviction in sales shows that you have the belief that the product that you have is something that would be incredibly important for the prospect to own. On that note, if you approach a prospect that you don’t believe should have your product, then DON’T sell it to them. All sales should be mutually beneficial, and shouldn’t be based on manipulation. Conviction with no belief is manipulation, and isn’t worthy of a professional in any industry.
Expertise – Be an expert, and come across as an expert in your business. If you’re brand new, this is the one “technical” part that can take some time, but remember that in most cases, being an expert doesn’t mean knowing all the inner workings of your business, it means understanding why your product or service is so important, and why it’s better than everything else that’s out there. As in the example from above, this ties into the confidence that you show when you approach a new prospect.
You can’t sell to someone if you don’t get “in” with them. Although there are fantastic closing techniques that can help get you the sale, there’s no sales opportunity if you can’t get in the door. Enthusiasm, Confidence and Expertise are the three keys to the approach that will get you in to more prospects, and take your sales to the next level.