Everybody who works in sales wants to be better at it.
The difference is that some people take active steps to improve, while others sit around wishing for it to happen on its own. Unlike most other jobs, personal improvement in sales correlates with a higher paycheck, so it’s important not to get too set in your ways and be unwilling to try to get better.
(One sure fire way to improve your sales is to utilize an AI-Powered CRM , like Spiro to help you close more deals.)
If you do want to become better, there are plenty of things you can do, from asking for feedback from your sales manager or more successful coworkers, to reading sales books, to attending training seminars. In the meantime, here are some tips that will help you become better. Even if you only work on one of the following, it can help you become a better salesperson.
1. Be consistent
Anyone can work hard and apply themselves for a day or a week, but the key is to do it consistently. Even if you’re not at 100% every single day, you’re better off working to 80% of your capabilities every single day instead of at 100% one day and 30% the next. Just like getting in shape, it’s more important to do the right things over a prolonged period of time than simply in fits and starts.
2. Make everybody feel important
Sales is all about listening and addressing your prospect’s true needs, and there’s no better way to make a prospect understand that you’re the right person to solve their problem than by making them feel important. In fact, you should pretend that every single prospect that you speak with is wearing a sign that says “Make me feel important,” like legendary salesperson Joe Girard says.
3. Get over rejection instantly
Barbara Corcoran, the real estate mogul famous for being on Shark Tank once said that the difference between salespeople who make millions of dollars and everybody else is how much time they spend feeling sorry for themselves after they lose a deal. One way to get over rejection is to teach yourself to treat it like a temporary inconvenience instead of a catastrophic setback and you’ll become a better salesperson immediately.
4. Do everything you say you’re going to do
Great salespeople always keep their word and don’t say they’re going to things that they aren’t going to do. Start holding yourself accountable for your words, and don’t make promises you can’t keep or are unwilling to do whatever it takes to keep. If you make this a hard rule for yourself, you’ll find yourself being more productive and accountable than ever before.
5. Ask for referrals
The facts on referrals are pretty grim. Studies show that only about 11 percent of salespeople ever even ask for referrals, while the number of customers who would be willing to give them are multiple times that number. If you ask for referrals, not only will you be opening up another valuable lead source for yourself, but you’ll be doing something that the overwhelming majority of your competition isn’t, which gives you a competitive advantage .
Related: Six Signs That You’re a Seller and Not a Closer
6. Use tools that will help you
In this day and age, if you’re a salesperson and you’re not taking advantage of the myriad of software tools and resources out there, then you’re doing yourself a disservice. Tools like Spiro, the AI-Powered CRM , can enhance your effectiveness as a salesperson by eliminating many of the distracting and time-consuming tasks that you’re used to doing manually, allowing you to get more done and focus on the things that really move the needle.
7. Take pride in what you do
Far too many salespeople don’t take pride in their careers and see it as a back-up, or something that they fell into. But the salespeople who make a fortune rarely feel this way. They understand how valuable salespeople are to the economy, and take great pride in their career and what that career can do for their families and their lifestyle. Believe in what you’re doing and you will become infinitely better at it.