Will the qualities inherent in the Sales Manager help you in your everyday life?
Sales or sales managers-all of this causes unpleasant associations with people who try to "sell you a pen" at any price. Their persistence triggers rejection, we don't want to associate ourselves with salespeople, but can we learn something useful from their behaviour? Let's look at a couple of examples.
Let's start with a straightforward one. A market is a place where you can purchase advantageously and significantly save money, or get cheated and overpay for goods, or are you too afraid to bargain or barter? Not every customer will pay attention to the shortcomings of a product and ask for a reduced price while acting politely. Some people think that bargaining is awkward, inconvenient, and only for the petty-minded.
But even Donald Trump in his article "how to save every penny" wrote: "I consider pride, that prevents you from saving your own money, a huge stupidity." Besides, the ability to bargain is nothing more than a negotiation skill, which is mandatory for all sales managers, as it's an integral part of their work.
Almost all of us have had an interview at least once in our lives. The purpose of the interviewee is to sell themselves: to show their qualities and skills to their potential employer in the best light, and to show them your value. It's equally important to not "sell yourself short" by agreeing to a salary that doesn't suit you. It is a presentation skill that allows salespeople to continuously improve to attract more customers and meet KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).
So that you can communicate in an exciting and informative way, and not just listing your merits (or advantages of the product you're selling), you need to prepare for each interview/business meeting. Instead of using a pre-prepared template, you must analyse the business tasks of the company.
Therefore, as is becoming apparent, these skills are useful not only in sales but in the broader sense of any career.
The success of a salesperson depends not only on how well they talk about the advantages of their product/service, but also on how they appear: how they speak, what their facial expressions and gestures are saying; whether they are relaxed or uptight or feels insecure. All of these little things contribute to the image of a confident person who can be trusted. It's tricky to think of a situation where self-confidence and self-worth will only hinder, so it's useful to develop these qualities in yourself, too.
- Working with objections for a person working in sales involves the following action plan.
- You must find out what doesn't suit the client, and offer a compromise that satisfies both sides of the transaction.
In relationships with friends, partners, and relatives, it's the same. If we want to maintain a relationship where everyone is happy, then don't turn a blind eye to any conflicts. For example, your mother or girlfriend doesn't like you leaving your clothes on the back of a chair; you don't expect the problem to go away by itself.
The ability to listen, to admit when something is wrong, and the desire to understand the basis of the problem means coming up with a solution that will suit everyone. To allocate more space in the closet for clothes and removing the old ones. All of this is invaluable not only for the salespeople but also for the average person too.
That leads to two other skills: the ability to ask the right questions and the ability to listen.
It sounds simple, but not everyone thinks the answers to open questions. For instance, "Why didn't you do what I asked you to do?" will provide more information and food for thought than in comparison to closed questions such as "You didn't do what I asked you to do because you forgot?" Perhaps questions that are answered with a simple "Yes" or "No," are more appealing to both customers and ordinary people, they're simple, you don't need to think long to answer. Nevertheless, communication could turn into an endless search of questions noticing the ones you hear "Yes."
Sometimes just listening to the other person is enough. Don't interrupt or mull over answers but use clarifying questions to make sure that you're talking about the same thing. A Sales Manager will be able to understand the customer's needs better, take them into account and offer a superior solution to the problem; everyone else will also need to be able to listen to better understand their conversation partner.
Not all transactions are concluded the first time around; sometimes, it could take several months between the first meeting with the client and the conclusion of a transaction. It's here where the sales Manager will need patience and perseverance, while not turning it into an obsession.
Not all deals are closed immediately. Sometimes it can take several months between the first meeting with a customer and the completion of the deal. Here, a sales manager needs a lot of patience and perseverance, which shouldn't contribute to being too pushy. Think back to situations where these qualities have led you to success: despite the challenges you didn't give up playing sports, you learnt to play the piano, or even learning an artisan pursuit like how to paint. So, remember, much of what you've achieved in life has been achieved through patience and perseverance. The more these properties are within you, the better the chances of being able to achieve your goals.
It'spossible to share quite different opinions now about the profession of a sales manager: you don't have to love them, be annoyed or think that "only lazy people work in sales." You should pay attention to the skills that sales managers use in their work and execute them in your daily life.