My Philosophy On Sales: 'Helping and Assisting'

There are many ways to approach the idea of sales. Many of those involved in sales are in it just for the money, some are stuck in the field, some have a natural talent for it, some have to do it to run their business, and the list goes on. We all have our reasons for being involved in sales. My philosophy on sales revolves around one core ideal, which is 'Help' or 'Assistance.' If I am promoting a product or service I must believe that it has an innate value to help those who purchase it. It must believe I can provide a high level of value to my customers, otherwise I should not be selling it. Selling something that is uninteresting to you is like trying to push a stubborn mule up hill!

In order to really engage in sales at a high level, you must be willing to spend more than just your eight hour day thinking of ways to help others with your product or service. In order to devote such time and effort, you have to truly believe in it! You must have a high interest in your offering. Even when I am not actively working on a project on my off hours, I am always thinking about ways to improve my ability to connect with others and effectively communicate the value of my product and company.

When sales is viewed from the idea of assisting or helping people to make smart, educated decisions, then it becomes very personal. Your product or service becomes something you can fully identify with and engage in. This mindset keeps things fresh and you will not grow tired of finding new ways to present it to people. Sales is personal profession, and if you are selling something you do not believe has any real value, or you are uninterested in, then I suggest you dust off your resume and start looking for something else. If you cannot truly personalize your product or service, so that you can truly help and assist others, then you are not in a good position to realize true sales success.

The Economy: A Curse and a Blessing (Utilizing Social Media)

Today's extremely competitive economy is both a curse and a blessing. For those who want to run their business on an antiquated model, a decade behind the times, it is a curse. Those who are taking advantage of new technology and learning a more personalized way of doing business are seeing it as a blessing. The Internet and social media have changed the way we do business. We are now connected to one another in a variety of mediums which are able to communicate data in a very personalized manner. No longer do we have to fly all over the country to introduce ourselves to prospects. It no longer takes millions of dollars for a start-up company to compete against the big boys. Now you just have to be smarter, more creative, and more personable.

Every day you wait to engage in social media, you fall behind your competition. Devote an hour a day to Twitter, Blogger, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Write interesting articles that offer value to people, and create videos for YouTube so people know who you are and can identify with you on a personal level. Find ways to add value through these avenues and find ways to be creative in making new contacts with people. Remember, be personal. Tweeting out advertisements for your business all of the time is not a great way to build rapport with people. It would be like you going to a dinner party and blabbing about your company and product all night to everyone you meet.  Once they know and like you, they will know what kind of business you have, and be willing to do business with you when the opportunity presents itself.

Is a Hosted PBX Solution Really Your Best Value?

IP-PBX VS the Average Hosted Product

(Will the cloud rain on your parade?)

The Dilemma

Many companies today are faced with a dilemma of sorts in trying to decide what direction to take their business communications in. Do they go with a premise based IP-PBX solution, or do they take their company in the offsite hosted direction? Hosted marketing material boasts a low monthly cost and a low maintenance model, while the premise based solution boasts more control and the advantage of not being tied to a monthly cost for the life of the business’s communications needs. In order to make a good choice based on the facts, we must closely examine the real cost, features, and benefits of each. 

Are You In Control?

As soon as you make the decision to hand off your communications needs to a hosted company, you are no longer in control. Although your hosted company may boast of having essentially no “downtime” you are still at the mercy of the hosted provider’s connections, data center issues and your local internet company. Also, you are not able to troubleshoot issues as easily as you can with a premise based system. Having a hosted solution adds another layer of support to your model; just like calling the phone company. That means you have to rely on someone who may be located halfway across the globe to help you troubleshoot your problems. Your local IT group or local communications vendor can be available in person to troubleshoot your premise based solution. Finally you can customize and make changes to a premise based system much easier than a hosted. You control the system, its upgrades and growth. The key question is, do you want control? 

Is Hosted Really A Better Value?

The short answer is no, it is more expensive. To start with, in order to compare apples to apples we are going to break both solutions into a monthly cost. The one misleading marketing tactic that the hosted providers do is compare a large upfront cost of a premise based solution vs. an apparent low monthly cost of the hosted. They also fail to tell you that you are going to be paying their monthly cost forever, as long as you use their service. The truth is, once you break the IPitomy premise based solution down to a monthly payment, the hosted solution begins to lose its shine. Additionally, when you begin to compare them feature for feature, the IPitomy premise based system for example, really leaves the hosted competition lacking. 

Is Hosted Really Invincible?

A hosted PBX runs over the Internet! No Internet, no phones! Are you really going to forward all of those lines to cell phones while the cable or Internet company fixes that outage? On a premise based system you can have two service providers. A traditional PRI for example, and Internet based SIP lines. Why put all of your eggs in one basket when you can diversify? Can a premise based system crash? Sure, save your backups and use a RAID drive and a redundant power supply to drastically reduce your chances of an outage. If you have a reliable interconnect, you will have the proper backups and replacement equipment available to get back up quickly in case of an outage. Finally, one good reason to use the Cloud, is for backup. You can have your IP phones hit the Cloud in an emergency if your premise based system completely dies. To sum it up, a premise based system gives you more options for system redundancy that a pure Cloud solution. 

Well What About Service Costs?

The great pitch of the hosted salesman is to tell you that you never have to worry about service again! Even with hosted, phones still go bad, and if you have a bad one, you have may have to wait to get a new one mailed to you. If you are experiencing problems, dropped calls, buttons not working, etc., you have to call someone on the phone and haggle with them to determine what the problem is. Then you may still be wrong and find out you have a network problem! Is it really worth paying all of that extra money every month to have to do the troubleshooting yourself? Why not save those hundreds of dollars a month, and when you have a problem, someone can actually come out and talk to you personally and solve it for you? I guarantee that the amount of money you will spend on service will not even come close to the money you are wasting every month for that “invincible” system that you still don’t own. Looking at the comparison example, which you will see on the next page, once the equipment is paid for a business would save close to $4000.00 a year for a small 20 phone system. 

A Softphone Integrates Your Business Into Your Smartphone!

Cell phones have revolutionized the way we communicate. There are few people who do not have a cell phone, and many have completely replaced their home land lines with cell phones. While businesses do not have the luxury on doing away with their premise based phones, cell smartphones do have their place in the business world. Although you can ordinarily forward your business phone to your cell phone, there is a limited capacity to use your cell phone with your business phone system. A softphone alleviates these limitations and allows your cell phone to have a higher integration with your business system, provided it is an IP system.

A softphone is a software app that you can run on your smartphone, laptop or tablet which allows you to use Internet access to make and receive phone calls off of your business VoIP system. There are some things you should know about using your cell phone as a softphone. When calling from a softphone on your cell phone there are some pros and cons. The pros surely outweigh the cons, but knowing some of the limitations will be helpful in getting the most user friendly experience with your new softphone

Pros
1. A softphone works as an extension off your VoIP system which gives off the caller ID of your business rather than your personal cell number. As you know, there are times when you would rather not have your personal phone number being broadcast when making business calls. It is also beneficial to broadcast your business caller ID so your customers can call back the appropriate number. This makes your cell phone a transparent component of your business phone system.

2. When you have your softphone registered on the VoIP PBX you can also put that extension into groups which can allow cell phone users to answer calls in groups while being mobile. You can also transfer calls just like you would if you were in the office. You also have the ability to put callers on hold with hold music.

3. By using the softphone in conjunctions with WiFi, you do not use your personal minutes up while talking, nor do you use packets your data plan.

Cons
1. Softphones are known for wearing down your battery on your cell, so have an extra battery available, or your charger. Make sure you can completely disable your softphone so it will not drain your battery when you are not using it. Check out the reviews for various softphones. Some of the free ones are not easy to disable and can kill your battery quickly.

2. Do not completely rely on your 3G or 4G data to make calls on your softphone. Always try and use a WiFi hotspot for reliable bandwidth. Voice is very susceptible to packet loss. Slow or inconsistent data speeds will present you with delayed or choppy voice or no voice at all. I have made calls while driving around in Sarasota utilizing 4G on my Metro PCS plan, and my calls did stay up, but the call quality is not quite as good as a normal cell call, and there are times when I had a little delay causing me to talk over the other person.

Summary
Softphones on your cell phone allows you to stay connected to your business VoIP system while traveling. For those sitting in an airport this can be very helpful for conducting business before and after flights. Your softphone gives you superior integration with your business and you will enjoy some of the benefits of your VoIP PBX while you travel. As far as recommendations go, I can say personally that I have Sipdroid on my LG-MS840 Android smartphone and it works pretty good. It was easy to install and setup and works well on WiFi and I can make calls on 4G while driving, with occasional quality issues. When you are not using the app, make sure to go into your settings and turn off the 3G feature so you can use your cell to make normal calls Some apps are easier to navigate than others so be sure to try a few to see which works best for you. There are a variety of free and paid softphones out there such as Counterpath, Zoiper and Sipdroid to name a few. Have fun with your new softphone!

It is Not About Statistics and Features, It is About Personalization

One of the major mistakes sale people make, is that when they have the first opportunity to speak to a prospect, they quickly tell them as much as they can about their product or service. It is like a fire hose gone wild! No one wants to waste a valuable opportunity, and we certainly want to make the most out of it. Unfortunately rattling off all of the features and statistics about your offering is not really making the most out of your opportunity, its wasting it. There are a few key rules to keep in mind when you make a sales call.

Do They Like You?

People don’t usually buy from people they don’t like. If at the first opportunity you start listing off every feature you can remember about your product or service, they probably are not going to like you very much. They think you just want to sell them something, and that is usually a big turn off for people. Be friendly, ask questions so you can learn about your prospect and start to build rapport with them. As you begin to understand who your client is and what his wants, needs or desires are, you can then begin to advise him on how your product or service could benefit them.

Do You Personalize Your Product?

Prospects don’t necessarily care about features, they want to know what value you can provide. For example, I work in the telecommunications industry. Instead of telling a prospect that your phone system can have remote phones, why not personalize the feature for them? For example, do they ever wish that their key employee who is home with their sick kid could answer some important calls instead of being completely out of commission for the day? Have they ever considered letting some employees work from home to save costs on office space? Personalization is extremely important.

Do You Know Your Prospect’s Motivation To Buy?  

What idea does the prospect have in mind when considering this new purchase? It is important to determine why your prospect wants to buy. What benefits do they perceive, and what outcome do they desire? When you go shopping for a car don’t you normally picture yourself driving that shiny new cool BMW or Lexus before you buy it? Then you decide to test drive it, and finally you desire to have that imagined outcome become a reality and then you buy. Everyone who buys something has an outcome in their mind which motivates them. If you do not know that motivation or desired outcome you will have a hard time selling.

If you keep these three questions in mind when you approach new prospects you will have a much better shot at completing the sale. 

Saving Money With SIP Redundancy

In today's market nothing is more important than a company's ability to communicate. There are various ways for businesses to build disaster recovery into their communications platform. One of the most overlooked methods is not an expensive proposal, and in fact can put money back into your pocket every month! For those businesses who have moved into the VoIP era, their premise based VoIP system can utilize multiple trunking types and multiple service providers to prevent business interruption by the loss of communications.

The SIP service provider market has been growing exponentially over the past few years. It is
an excellent way to provide redundancy for your business as well as save you money every month. Many businesses are still running on POTS (traditional) lines, which can cost over 50 dollars per line, per month. A SIP line which runs over your internet into your VoIP system can cut this cost in half per line, and also provide you with competitive long distance plans. Many companies have gone completely to SIP trunking for this reason. There can be a benefit to having a combination of trunking. This a blind spot for those who have chosen to subscribe to a hosted cloud solution. When the internet goes down, your business will experience catastrophic business disruption. Even if your hosted provider can set up call forwarding to mobile phones or voice mail, it is still a major disruption to your business continuity. Not so with a premise based VoIP solution that has combined trunking. With combined trunking, an Internet outage forwards calls to your traditional phone lines automatically with no disruption in service. The same thing if your analogue lines should fail, the SIP service is available for all calls. In most cases, using the combined provider scenario actually reduces phone costs. What could be better; disaster recovery, business continuity and reduced telecom expenses?

To improve business, rather than discarding all of your old traditional phone lines, you can choose to keep some of them, and replace some of them with SIP trunking. Premised based VoIP systems such as the IPitomy allows you to easily set up outgoing and incoming routes based on your diversified trunking configuration. For example, your long distance may route out on your SIP trunks, while your main number may remain on your POTS lines. You can build priorities on your trunking allowing you to fail over to another in case one provider fails. This can also work with companies who have a PRI. It can be combined with SIP trunking to add additional redundancy to your system. If the internet goes down, you would still be able to fail over to your POTS lines or PRI. If your POTS service or PRI service fails, you can fail over to your SIP trunks, which operate over your internet provider.

Being creative with your premise based VoIP system trunking is not only beneficial to keeping your communications alive in times of outages, but it can also put real dollars back into your pocket every month. Examine your phone and internet bill and then implement a plan that will integrate SIP trunking into your premised based VoIP communications platform, so that you can have the best of both worlds; disaster recovery and monthly savings!

Ditching Your Old Phone System? What Type of Trunking (Dial-tone) Should You Use?

When you are looking for a new phone system, one of the first questions you are asked is “What kind of trunks do you have?” Much of the time the response is “what are trunks?” Put in laymen’s terms, trunks are the means in which your phone system communicates with outside world. It is your dial tone. There are generally three groups into which we classify trunking, and each have pros and cons. We will briefly discuss them.

POTS Lines

In the old days you pretty much had one standard trunking solution which was a pair of copper wires, which we call POTs lines, or Plain Old Telephone Lines. Anyone who has had a land line at their house can relate to this type of line. Two wires go from your house to the central office of the telephone company and then are routed to another pair of wires when you call another subscriber. The main difference with businesses is the need for several of these lines so their employees could make and receive simultaneous calls. Having these multiple lines required a way to integrate them into the business, which was largely done by a telephone system. There are still many of these lines in use today, although many of these “POTS” lines are now just simulated by digital devices. The days of true analog lines are gradually going by the wayside, and AT&T has vowed to phase them out over the next 7 years or so.

What are the pros of POTS lines?

For the small business with limited access to high speed data, the POTs line is still an effective solution. Although they are gradually being replaced by SIP solutions, they still have physical connections which afford a somewhat more consistent reliability being that the local phone company still maintains them directly.

What are the cons?

POTS lines are slowly being phased out since they are outdated technology. Those hanging on to their old phone systems are going to have to upgrade sooner rather than later. These lines are usually more expensive, and if high bandwidth Internet is available which allows for the utilization of SIP trunking, you can decrease your telephone bill by 50% or more. Also, many POTs lines are not physical copper lines anymore, and are digital interfaces which are converted to an analogue interface on the phone system. This conversion also means there can be loss of call quality. As technology advances POTS lines are going to be a thing of the past.  Purchasing a phone system that is designed as a TDM system and requires POTS lines is obviously a poor investment. Your investment dollar is much better spent with a system that fully embraces the next generation technology; avoid systems that are designed solely around the old technology.

PRI/T1 Trunks

The PRI/T1 interface has been around now for some time. Once only utilized by large businesses because of high cost, they are now found in businesses of all sizes. A PRI is a digital circuit which runs on 2 pairs of wire and delivers 24 channels, one being used for negotiation. The other 23 channels are channels used for voice lines, giving a PRI a robust 23 voice channels. There are also shared T1s which can also be used for both voice and data. This however s not utilized so much anymore since a whole T1 is only 1.54 Mps.

What are the pros of the PRI?

A PRI can still be very cost effective voice solution for your business. With the cost averaging between $350.00 to $450.00 a month for 23 lines, a PRI can make a lot of sense. Maintenance on the PRI is also usually easier to manage since your provider maintains it up to the telco demark, and your phone vender is responsible for it after that point into the phone system. Call quality is usually consistent on a PRI. For businesses with a lot of DIDs and the need for several phone lines, a PRI is a viable option that will be around for the foreseeable future, yet will be losing market share to SIP trunks..

What are the cons?

Although the cost on a T1 has come down over the past 10 years, it can still be a bit much for those business that do not need 23 lines. It also costs your business more to interface a PRI into the phone system since it requires a PRI interface card. This makes the PRI perhaps a bit much for the business that may only need 10 phone lines for example.  With all of the service provider consolidation happening in the industry, T1/PRI providers are being acquired by a few large companies.  This has had the effect of reducing customer service to very low levels in some areas.  Make sure to take this into account with your vendor.  The T1 and analog service providers are in a diminishing business sector.  They are rapidly losing market share to the SIP providers.  This trend will not be reversed.

SIP trunks- The Wave of the Future

SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) trunking is the new kid on the block compared to POTS and PRI solutions. It utilizes the Internet to make voice over IP phone calls. A PBX that is SIP based only needs an Internet connection with adequate bandwidth to utilize SIP trunks. Essentially the IP-PBX hangs on your local network which is connected to the Internet. This allows your IP-PBX access to set up VoIP calls. I would make sure that whatever system you buy has SIP compatibility, and even better if the system is SIP ready out of the box. Watch out for systems that have SIP licensing as an add-on. SIP trunking is becoming an extremely popular form of trunking and appears to be the way communications will move in the future.  New looking systems with a TDM core instead of a true pure IP PBX may be something to avoid, as they may become obsolete as parts become scarce and the old technology is displaced by IP PBX systems that are software based.

What are the pros of SIP?

SIP trunks are a very cost effective way to bring dial tone into your business. They are somewhere around 50% less expensive than POTS lines, and often include great long distance plans. This can mean huge monthly savings on your phone bill. They are fairly easy to integrate into the phone system and there are many companies to choose from. You can also choose how many SIP trunks you need based on your business traffic and you can add them easily as you need them. SIP provides you with the best scalability. SIPs also provide the best redundancy since they can be utilized with a Cloud in the event that your premise based system crashes and your Internet is still up. VoIP call quality when set up correctly is very good.  As the “new kid” on the block, SIP carriers are much more customer centric than the old wire line carriers, hence customer service is essential to be competitive in this growing sector.

What are the cons?

SIP trunks are still new technology and bandwidth plays a critical role in having call quality. Depending on how many simultaneous calls you need, you must calculate then needed bandwidth and make sure your slowest speed will suffice. Companies that have only DSL speed may have problems depending on their need. Maintenance is also sometimes a bit more difficult to deal with since you have more parties involved. You not only have the SIP provider, but you may also have a different Internet provider to work with as well, which can directly affect the quality of SIP trunking.

Summary

Depending on your business’s situation and needs, any of the above trunking solutions may be utilized. There are some areas where you have no viable option other than to use POTS lines. However, as Internet service becomes more popular, and higher speeds and reliability increase, so will SIP trunks. The PRI is a nice way to go if you need several lines and want maximum stability. Finally, I would always encourage using more than one trunk solution for redundancy. Even if you only have a few SIP trunks, I would recommend complementing the traditional PRI or POTS lines with SIP. Your premise based IP-PBX provides your business with the best redundancy when it comes to trunking. I recommend buying a system that will grow tih you on the SIP side of things, and systems that are SIP ready with no additional licensing for SIP trunks wil be the most cost effective. I hope this information helps you when you go shopping for your next phone system.

Why Choose An IP-PBX For Your Next Phone System?

Don't Get Left Behind!

Today there are many options to choose from when you are shopping for a new business phones system. Many companies are still manufacturing systems utilizing outdated technology and passing it off as the latest. VoIP is the direction that the telecommunications industry is moving in. As voice over IP technology advances more businesses are able to take advantage of it. This technology however is not just about new cool apps, it is about saving money and increasing efficiency. There are many ways that an IP-PBX will benefit your business.  Here are just a few of them.

Direct Cost Savings

An IP-PBX can often pay for itself by utilizing SIP lines that work over the Internet. Phone bills can often be reduced by 50% or more which means that financing that new phone system may not cost you anything out of pocket! That combined with other robust features like conference bridges and remote workers for example, makes purchasing a new IP system a no brainer.

Scalability

A true VoIP system provides a business with the ability to grow without having to add expensive equipment. SIP phones work on any network and all you need is a switch to plug them into. No more adding cards in the phone system. An IP-PBX also allows you to use SIP trunking, which is a way to make calls with a provider over the Internet. SIP trunks are less expensive than traditional phone lines and often offer robust long distance plans. They can easily be added or removed depending on the needs of your business. This adding and removing of trunk requires no cards or extra equipment.

Trunking Redundancy

The ability to use more than one type of dial tone connection, or trunking, is a great benefit for communications redundancy. Companies that have two types of trunking, for example, a PRI combined with SIP trunks, will have more stability if one of the dial tone carriers experiences a service outage. If one were to lose the Internet, their PRI would still function, and if one were to experience an outage on their T1, if their Internet was still working their SIP lines would not be affected.

Remote Workers

Companies are finding ways to cut costs and keep their employees connected through their phone system no matter where they may be located. An IP-PBX gives you the ability to use remote office phones at their homes or remote office and still be on the same system, using the same caller ID and incoming phone numbers. All the SIP phone needs is an Internet connection to work of the system remotely. For those who travel, they can utilize soft phones on their cell phones while they are at the airport, and any location that has 4g or WiFi and work off of the phone system as an extension. Try that on the old systems!

Efficient Call Routing

The main purpose of a phone system of course is to route calls the proper personal at the desired times. An IP-PBX usually has built in flexible routing options such as call groups and queuing that can route callers efficiently to make sure customers receive stellar customer service.

Staying Up To Date

If you are looking at an IP-PBX you will want to shop for one that is easily up-gradable and easily programmed remotely. Many of the new IP-PBXs are primarily software driven, which means that new features and upgrades can be done remotely so that your business always has the latest and greatest applications as they are developed. There are always new applications being developed such as built in conference rooms, emergency applications, and others that will benefit your company without having to keep buying a new phone system.

Summary

There are many reasons to make your next phone system purchase a pure VoIP based platform. Technology is not stopping to wait for anyone, and as companies realize the many benefits of VoIP, more and more development is going to be focused on that platform, not the older TDM platform. Support will also be more of a problem for those who opt to go with an older type key system. No one would consider using a horse and buggy anymore for their commute back forth to work, we now have the automobile. Try putting an AC unit on that buggy and see how it works! Choose VoIP, it’s the future of telecommunications!

Listen To Your Customer!

When it comes to being a successful sales adviser, it is important to listen to your potential customer. They may be interested in purchasing a new phone system for a variety of reasons. Their old system may be old and in need of replacement, or their needs may have changed since their last purchase, where certain features or options were not available. Some of your future customers may not be actively looking for a phone system, thinking that it is out of their price range. Regardless of which of these categories they fall into, there will be one or two particular reasons that they will be interested in doing business with you. It is your job to find out what they are. Here are few things to keep in mind to as you engage your potential customer. 

1. Build a relationship, not a sales opportunity. 

Those who are in the business of making a fast buck will not be successful in the long haul. A good sales adviser is one who actually cares what his customer is interested in. They want to help their customer rather than sell them. Most people do not buy from those they do not like or do not see as being sincere. Trust is a key factor. Build a sincere relationship, and you will have a customer for life. 

2. Find out what is important to them. 

We all have a tendency to project our own ideas of what is important to us onto others. This is not to say that you should not point out things that the customer may have overlooked that could be of importance to them. However, if you dismiss their initial concerns only to replace them with your own ideas, you are most likely to turn your customer off and lose their interest or trust. 

3. Listen first, offer solutions second. 

When you have the opportunity to meet with your potential customer be sure to afford them the opportunity to speak and express their concerns first. Ask questions so that you can find out the best way to meet their needs. Write them down when they are speaking so that you can address them specifically, offering solutions for each. 

4. Know your product. 

None of these steps will work unless you have them underpinned by product knowledge. In order to offer solutions, you have to know what solutions you have to offer them. The more solutions your product and company can offer the more likely you are able to fill your customer's needs. 

In summary, you must build a good relationship with your potential customers and truly be interested in helping them find solutions, if you want to win their trust and their business. Learn first what is important to them, fill those needs, and then offer additional solutions that they may be interested in. Know your product well so you can offer them legitimate solutions to their concerns. 

Attitude Matters

In today’s economy many small businesses are doing more with less. It is not uncommon to have an employee filling two roles, that of a technician and a sales adviser for example. Coming from personal experience, it is very hard for most technicians to see themselves as “sales” advisers It is true that there are many people in certain industries in the field of sales which have given the name “sales” a bad image. We all have experienced that used car salesman who is more concerned with moving a pile of junk off his lot, than he is concerned for the needs of his customer. We should not however let this stereotypical image ruin the image of what real salesmanship is and should be. Whether or not you are exclusively in sales or you wear two hats, attitude is of the utmost importance.

I have spoken before of the importance of building relationships with customers and filling their actual needs and wants. In other words, we need to listen, and then fill a need that we are capable of filling with our service or product. As important as this is to being a successful sales adviser nothing can make up for a bad attitude. No one likes a sour personality, no matter how great their product or service may be. There has been much said about positive thinking, and much of it is useful. If we have a tendency to be negative, much of our outcomes in life will be negative. Negative people are generally not as successful as positive thinking people.

Part of being in sales is the reality of dealing with rejection. Surveys regularly confirm that there are two top fears that all people have. The top fear is death, and the second is fear of rejection. They say that 75% of sales people fold in the first 90 days because they simply cannot deal with rejection. If they do make it through the first 90 days many develop a negative attitude towards selling, and their sales numbers are poor. Rejection often paralyzes them from making sales calls.

While it is true that not everyone has the calling to be involved in sales, most of us, if we have the right attitude and drive, can be fairly successful at it. If we have the right outlook on ourselves, our product, and on those we will be engaging with, “sales” becomes an art in finding solutions for people, rather than being a numbers game. When we are genuinely concerned with the needs of others, and we have a positive attitude to drive ourselves towards meeting their needs, the negative aspect of rejection disappears.

Here are a few pointers that will help you to realize the importance of a positive attitude.

1. Act: If you have a product that you really think will benefit your customers, then what are you waiting for? They are not coming to you, you have to go to them. Call on companies by phone or in person and introduce yourself. You are never going to sell anyone anything if they do not know anything about you. Procrastinating is the worst thing you can do in sales. If you do not act each day to make contact with as many people as you can, then chances are you are missing a lot of opportunities, and others will cash in on your lack of action. Procrastination and lack of action result from dwelling on negative thoughts. True action follows from positive thoughts.

2. Introduce Yourself: It is important to make a good first impression. Most people do not like overly aggressive sales people. The key point to understand is that you want to introduce yourself, your company, and your product briefly, for an opportunity that may arise in the future where you can help them find a solution to a challenge or need. Never aggressively imply that you are assuming that they want or need your product when you first meet someone. Always bring down the barrier by letting them know that you are not assuming they are looking for a new product or another company to do business with, but that if in the future, should the need arise, here is what you have to offer. This takes the pressure off you and the customer, but leaves the door wide open for a future relationship. Most sales do not happen the first time you meet someone. Rest assured, if they are in need of your product at the present time they will let you know once you briefly introduce it.

3. Believe: It is important to believe that you will succeed in winning over your potential customers. A lack of confidence is easily spotted by most people. Confidence, not arrogance, puts people at ease. It conveys the idea that they are going to do business with a well-established person and company. If you don’t believe in your product, neither will they.

4. Smile: No one likes an angry looking sales advisor. A smile is worth a thousand words and can open up doors very easily. Nothing can turn away a potential customer faster than an unenthusiastic stick in the mud. Present yourself positively and with genuine enthusiasm.

5. Follow Through: Once you make initial contact with a possible customer, do not wait for them to call you back unless they explicitly tell you not to follow up. Always let them know that you will check back with them in a defined period of time. This allows you to further develop your relationship and to see if they have any questions or feedback for you. If you say you are going to call them back in two weeks, be sure to follow through on that promise. If they are not available be sure to leave a message to let them know that you were following up as promised.

6. Keep the Doors Open: Always do everything you can to keep relationships alive even if there is no immediate probability they will do business with you. A ‘no’ today can often be a ‘yes’ several months or even years later. There is nothing wrong with a periodic check in to see if anything has changed for them.

7. Know When To Drop It: Sometimes there will be instances where you cannot meet the needs of the customer. Although these instances should be rare, when this happens it is crucial to let your customer know that your product or company is not a good fit for them. They will appreciate the honesty in not trying to sell them something that is not going to work for them. There are many times where they will even refer a friend of theirs to you, who you may be able to help.

Matthew J Bellisario 2013