You may already be a sales success. Did you do it alone? It’s far easier when other people help you succeed than if you do all the work yourself. Here are some people who you should select or avoid to ensure your sales success. You can pick the right people to sell more.
Pick the right people to learn from.
Great salespeople are always learning. They are learning about more than just their products. New areas to learn about are business, competition, the economy, people, software and current events. These very different areas make them both more interesting people and more talented sales professionals. You should look for people who you can learn from.
One of those people should be a mentor. Who can you turn to with questions about your business? You might have different people who function as your mentor. A mentor gives you peace of mind that you’re not in business alone. It’s great if your manager could fill the role of your mentor. That’s not always the case. If not, look to a coworker, a customer or other business associate whose knowledge you respect and want to learn from.
Selling has a lot of ups and downs. Knowing you have someone to turn to with questions will give you peace of mind.
Pick the right people to listen to (and who not to.)
It seems there are no shortages of people offering advice. The words “you should…” seem part of conversations whether the person is asked for advice or not. Some people offer ideas that are interesting, creative and compelling. You might not have thought of their ideas as solutions. Other people offer half-baked ideas that they wouldn’t even try themselves.
Your job is to be able to distinguish between who offers good advice and who you should ignore. Unsolicited advice from people you respect is one thing. Consider it and make your decision whether you take it or not.
Be sure to understand if the person offering advice has taken that advice himself. How did it work? What was the specific situation? That information will help you determine whether the advice fits your particular sales situation.
Unsolicited advice from people you do not respect is something else. Reply, “That’s interesting” and do nothing with the advice. It’s sometimes hard to remember that advice does not have to be acted on.
Pick who to avoid.
Protecting your emotional health is a priority in sales. Selling is a tough career. It’s especially difficult to work with people who always see the problems with every idea. These negative people need to be avoided. Their attitude functions as an energy vampire. They will suck the life out of you. Fortunately, most people in sales are balanced between dealing with the ups and downs of sales. It’s the extreme negative person who should be avoided. Say hello and just keep walking.
The song says people who need people are the luckiest people in the world. Luck certainly is good to have in sales. Rather than need people, it’s better in sales to pick the right people.