Sales Intelligentsia

Sales Training: Confusion is normal at the beginning of any process

Learning to sell is a series of steps that are shared by all learning experiences. We start by becoming conscious that there is an underlying process we were not aware of before. We may not have a clear understanding of how to do it but we’ve started to at least know it exists. Because of this awareness we subconsciously start to observe and learn about the process, gathering information and experience without a great deal of conscious organization. This mish-mash of input is the fertile soil that the learning process requires to take shape. As beginners we fill our minds up with a bewildering amount of information that doesn’t always make sense to us.
This information gathering stage is the beginning stage of any learning or creative process. As confusing and disorganized as it may feel it is a perfectly normal and acceptable way to learn. As beginners we don’t have the experience to sort the important information from the less important. All we can do is take it in and remain open-minded.
Somewhere into the process an interesting thing happens: Previously confusing events start to make sense. An order starts to emerge. We see the connections between seemingly illogical actions and information. We’ve left the beginner stage and have begun to have a more engaged awareness. This ‘light of knowledge’ is what drives us as humans to excel. The fact that it is based on an unconscious gathering of knowledge that sorts itself out and emerges into our conscious lives is one of the great fascinations of life.
You have two choices. You can work on learning about selling and treat it as a fascinating opportunity or you can put it on the back burner and let the knowledge force itself out over time. The first choice means embracing a part of your business that may no have an immediate appeal and trusting that it will be worth the effort. The second choice, unconscious selling, will slow you down and may mean missed opportunities.

Training: Integrating Subsconscious and Conscious Sales Techniques

Sales is not a discrete part of doing business, it is integrated into everything you do from casual conversation to working on the details of a big job. Those conversations and that attention to detail send an on-going message to your market about you and how you do business. That message has a direct and powerful effect on how easy it is to sell your product.
This integration of selling into every aspect of your business can be handled in two ways. You can pretend its not happening and continue as you have, letting your work speak for itself. We’ll call this subconscious selling since your conscious mind has decided to leave sales to the subconscious. The other way is to develop an awareness of the sales component in everything you do and work to improve it. This conscious approach means putting the importance of selling up there with the ‘real’ work you do.

Subconscious Selling

Subconscious selling is not necessarily a bad thing. If you harbor deep seated prejudices about the propriety of tooting your own horn in public or merely feel a distaste for sales then subconscious selling may be your only choice. The problem with choosing to say: I am not a salesperson, I’m a __________.(fill in your occupation) is that you still need to sell to survive but you’ve relegated this important survival skill to a part of you that isn’t always under control. The result may be lost opportunities or inappropriate sales pitches at the wrong times.
These prejudices and fears regarding sales are common but often groundless, being based more in our upbringing than any real experience. Coping with them by ignoring them may mean missing out on what is really a fascinating aspect of being self-employed. Learning to sell is an incredibly useful skill, one that you can carry to any job, in any location, under any circumstances. Because sales is really the study of human nature and the way we communicate, it is a subject that, if embraced, can be very enlightening.

Conscious Selling

To experience this ‘enlightenment’ you need to consciously make the decision to learn sales as a challenging skill. This includes activities like reading books and articles about it, attending and participating in training sessions, observing the sales process as practiced by others and, overall, taking a real interest in the process.
Learning a skill is different than learning information or facts. We learn skills through hands-on experience combined with teaching. Skill learning is a truly interactive process because humans don’t just learn on an intellectual basis, we learn physically. Our bodies learn how certain activities feel, smell, sound and look as we participate in them. For instance, watching an Olympic competition has much more meaning for us if we have actually tried the sport we’re watching, no matter how inept we may have been in the process. Sales is no different. Once you have consciously tried selling, going through each step and responding to the customer, your entire perception of how we interact and engage in transactions will change. You consciousness of this aspect of human nature will be altered.

Sales Basics: Saying No

Even a very negative experience can have a strong positive impact on your business knowledge and confidence. With success comes the valued ability to say no to business that you have a bad feeling about. Even the hungry newcomer needs to learn and exercise this important confidence-builder. Turning down work often enhances your desirability in the eyes of others because of a quirk of human nature that makes us want what we can’t have. Once you’ve decided not to take on a project, trust your feelings and don’t give in to offers of higher payment or improved control. The underlying reason for not taking the job still exists. Be polite but firm and express the hope that at some future time you can work together on a different kind of project.