Even at home, the wife sells the idea that the family should live within its means of income. The husband sells the idea that it is a tough world and all the members of the family should be fighting fit to meet life. The children on their part try to sell the idea of a holiday trip or purchasing a computer system or even a home theatre system.



Be proud to be a sales person or a road warrior, for without the sales persons selling efforts, even a very good product will not sell by itself.

Selling cannot be taught, but selling tips can be given. A sales person should basically like to interact with people, love travel and endure competition in the market to finally convince the prospect to turn him into a customer. Ultimately, also to retain customers.

A sales career is also a rewarding one because it is a profession where your rewards are directly proportional to your efforts; that is based on your achievement of your targets. And remember, the targets that you are given will be unrealistic; otherwise it cannot be termed to be a sales target. Targets are meant to be that way.

Now, what are the practical tips to selling skills?

Sell yourself first. This requires as the saying goes, first impression is the best impression. Your appearance is God given, but how you present yourself makes the difference. You need to look neatly dressed but this does not mean that you spend money on expensive clothing. Again as the saying goes, dress makes half the man and the customer will judge your organization because you are the ambassador.

Be confident and communicate positively. Since, every time you meet a prospect or a customer, it is something like attending an interview. You need to impress the customer and at the same time be honest about what you have to say about yourself, your organization and your products or services. Be sure to commit what is possible and politely turn down unreasonable requests or demands of the customer. Explain why it may not be possible to accept all his demands. All the same, as a sales person you may have to bend backwards to fulfill some customer demands or otherwise you will end up losing all the customers. But remember to stay committed to your commitments.

Attitude matters; if you are not playing to win, why play at all?

We are not participating in the Olympics, where the motto is to participate irrespective of winning or losing. Here, it is a matter of survival or bread and butter. We have to beat competition, of course by fair means to win our customers.

Do not bulldoze or bullshit the customer. Do not do this even if it means losing an order. The customer will appreciate your efforts and commitment and will surely consider you the next time he has a requirement. You can win his confidence even if it means losing an order. Since selling is all about repeat orders and building a long term customer relationship.