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The way we dress can have a significant impact on our sales. After all, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
In this recording I interview leading image consultant Pauline Crawford who explains why the way we present ourselves is so important in sales and suggests some simple changes we can make in order to increase impact with clients and prospects.
You may want to listen to this more than once. If you get a chance then take notes. Although it is delivered in an easy to digest fashion it is packed with practical ideas.
This week I found myself recommending a particular book a couple of times to business owners. I was explaining the different types of sales person and why they needed to be looking for a certain type of sales person. Its a great book that I came across a few years ago. Its called ‘Selling the Wheel’ by Jeff Cox and Howard Stevens . I also found it useful in distinguishing where my own personality and selling style was most effective.
Sales is great for personal development because to do better we always need to be working on our comfort zone. it tends to work better when we expand our comfort zone at a gradual but steady pace rather than psyching yourself constantly for certain tasks you would rather not do.
Imagine you were going to a party and you were not particularly enthusiastic about the prospect of going. You may be saying to yourself things like:
‘I really don’t want to go. I won’t know anyone there? I am not going to enjoy it. I would rather be doing something else…..’
Do you think you are likely to get in the party spirit and have a good time, with all that going on in your mind?
How about if you were thinking to yourself:
When you are new to sales it can seem quite daunting sometimes. As you find your way through the maze it seems as if you are doing everything wrong. For example, you go into meetings and realize afterwards you forgot to ask an important question or you did far too much talking.
Next time instead of beating yourself up, try giving yourself some positive feedback. Its an approach I learned many years ago and use to this day.
Having confidence and self esteem certainly helps in sales. People buy from people they like and if you don’t like yourself much then why should other people be interested enough in you to listen to what you have to say?
It is possible to develop your self confidence and self esteem. Its certainly something I had to work on and I thought it would be useful to give some tips.
I recently met a very confident woman who confided in me she was sometimes quite nervous in sales situations and yet it never showed. I asked her how she managed to maintain her outer confidence. Her answer was what she called her ‘magic wardrobe’. In her magic wardrobe she has a number of outfits that she puts on that give her special capabilities. She has an imaginary golden outfit that gives her super confidence and she puts this on each day when she goes to work.
I have to tell you that when I first started in sales I struggled with so many of the ideas. You see my experiences of sales people were limited to dodgy double glazing salesmen and people who will not take no for an answer. It seemed that all the techniques were there to manipulate your prospects and do the very thing I detested about the tactics of the double glazing salesmen I had met. This was not helped by certain so called sales experts from America seeming to glorify this manipulative approach.
Sales is a fantastic vehicle for personal development. It involves confronting your fears, stretching your comfort zone, and expanding your thinking. It takes courage to do things you find uncomfortable. Learning to sell requires courage!
Courage is also known as bravery. It is the ability to face fear, pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation. It is called ‘physical courage’ while facing physical challenges such as pain and hardship and ‘moral courage’ while enduring shame and discouragement.
I have just finished a coaching call with a sales manager who had implemented a simple technique I had learnt from a top door-to-door salesman. The sales manager used the technique to increase the number of cold calls made by a couple of his team members. He said that by using this technique they doubled the number of calls made and both people felt great in the process. Previously they had found cold calling a bit of a chore to put it mildly!
