Is Selling a Talent, a Skill, or a Process?

Selling is all of the above, and if you're going to be successful in your small business you've got to first understand sales technique and then master it. There are many misconceptions about the art of selling: 'Sales is about deception'; 'Sales means being pushy'; 'Sales is manipulation'. If you believe this sort of stuff, you're going to have a very hard time.

How about a change of belief?

Selling is about honesty; selling is about listening; selling is about helping. If you start to think of sales in this way it will be a lot easier for you. After all, don't you want to be an honest, listening, helping salesperson for your services? The good news is that excellent salespeople are exactly this way.

Ø Selling as a Talent. - You are actually a born salesperson who lost the talent as you matured. It used to be easy to ask for things and to present your case. But you became 'professional' and stopped doing what was natural. So don't worry about talent. Just learn the skills and the process.

Ø Learn some basic Sales Skills - And all the talent will come back to you naturally. What are the key sales skills? (1) Listening for what people want and need; (2) Asking questions to find out more; (3) Presenting what you have in terms of benefits; (4) Answering objections and questions with logical arguments. And finally, simply asking your prospect to take action. Yes, it takes time and practice to master these basic skills, but the truth is they are at the heart of all selling.

Ø How about Selling as a Process? - For me this is the most interesting part of selling and often the most important. Selling (especially for high-end products and services) is a multi-step process that can take quite a long time. It is not a one-call proposition. So for your particular requirements you need to map out the process from A to Z before anything else. For instance, here's my sales process for selling marketing services to major prospects.

1. Pre-qualification - They call on me as a result of a referral or from other marketing I've done and I find out something about their needs and their situation. I tell them a little about what I do.

2. Information - I make sure they have enough information about me so they can at least determine if I might be able to help them or not. For this I send them a brochure or direct them to my web site.

3. Appointment - If I can help them and they are interested, I set up a presentation.

4. Presentation - I then give them a presentation to better understand where I'm coming from and so they can see the possibilities of us working together.

5. Needs Assessment - Next I find out everything I can about them in a face-to-face meeting to determine exactly what they need, their budget, etc.

6. Proposal - I write up a very specific proposal outlining exactly what objectives we will accomplish and how I will go about doing it.

7. Negotiation - We discuss the fine points of the proposal and come to an agreement as to how we'll proceed.

8. Consummation - The client signs the proposal (contract) and we start working together.

To effectively accomplish the entire process you need to be aware of what step you are on at the moment and be clear about what step you want to get to next. For the sales process to be successful, you must actively guide it. If you don't it can go in any direction. This guiding of the process is not manipulation in the traditional sense, but it is control. And believe it or not, prospects like to work with people who are in control, who know where they're going, who know what to do next. So yes, selling is a talent, a skill and a process. But perhaps understanding the process is the most important aspect. When you do, you are likely to close a great many more sales.

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