Staying Ahead in the Sales Game
Sales are going to be how most businesses will measure how they are doing. In turn, a business will tend to measure the value of an employee by how well they are making sales. Getting along with others is nice, but an employee who cannot turn contacts into sales will not be long for the sales industry. How can a person stay ahead in the sales game?
Education is the best way to stay ahead of the game. You don't know what the latest tactics are unless you go to classes, read articles or gain new experiences at work. Learning is how you are going to stay ahead because there are always going to be people out there to give you advice, so learning how to take it, and seek it out, will be a great way to keep yourself in the lead.
Your instincts will also be a great way to stay ahead of the game. While they ways that people sell goods have changed, the way to get people to buy has not changed. One great way to convince people to buy from you is to get to know them, or at least tell them what they want to hear. This might mean simply calling to talk about a product, or going as far as to play the latest video game with a kid to entice the parents to buy the product.
As an extension of this, you should be listening to your customers. Do they talk about work a lot, or do they talk about how hard it will be to pay for Billy's braces? This will clue you in to how much money they might have to spend. If the customer talks about that trip to Spain, or their affinity for fine wine, it could clue you in to talking up wine that comes from Europe, or a wine tour that is taking place in a local hot spot.
Use technology to stay ahead of the curve. Use social media to listen to what clients are saying, and to see what the popular culture is all about right now. Stephon Marbury would have been great to market a decade ago, but would people want to buy his shoes these days? Would you use OJ Simpson to promote your products these days? Probably not, but if you don't know what people are saying, or how they feel about certain issues, it can be hard to gear advertising to the customer.
Staying ahead in sales means staying relevant and knowing what people want to hear. No one wants to know where the beef is anymore, they want to know where the best deal on food is. They want to know where they can save money and where they can find a car that has great gas mileage. Trying to sell like it is 1910 as opposed to 2010 won't get you very far.
