I have a confession to make. It’s not that sales people don’t want to do their job, but they just don’t really understand why it needs to be done the way it is done. In fact, it’s not like most of us ever knew what was going on.
So we would try our best to do things correctly without realising what we are doing. Instead of correcting our own mistakes, we would blame others. And then as soon as that one failed customer became another, another, and so on…
So, we need to learn more about being a successful salesperson in order to realise how to effectively sell with an effective sales team at work. And why you shouldn’t expect success from your direct reports. But first, let me explain my definition of success for all of us…
For myself, by ‘successful’ I mean to achieve personal goals. Not financial objectives, because personally, this will never happen. Success means having a great life for me, family, friends, etc. This is the same for everyone else, but we can’t control our circumstances of life, so there is no need for that here. To be able to do so, you must first be able to define why you are doing what you are doing and how much effort (and time) you are willing to put in to get where you want to go. You should be satisfied with the result. If you are happy with yourself and with the results that you achieved, the rest of your business life shouldn’t matter to you at all. Once you have made the decision to succeed, you need to decide when you are going to do it. What happens if you fail or quit, which has more negative impact on your business, the organisation, or on someone else. So, how to choose between those two options? There are many factors to consider, but the important ones are; Is your goal something your employees want to see?
How does it feel to see yourself achieving your goal? Will everybody be happy with your progress? How long will it take until you reach your goal? That’s how you need to decide when you are going to start growing, before people realise. The second question to answer is about what you will do once you stop growing. Do you know the skills you need to become better at your chosen profession? Can you teach others what you learnt? If not, what will you do next? Will you continue working in education/training courses? Or do you think that once you are a good enough professional, you could retire? Perhaps you want to spend more time learning new techniques that work for yourself, or simply live your life more productively. As long as these questions are answered, everything else can be resolved. After a few days, think about what you want to change or improve in the environment around you. Then plan how you will implement anything you want to put into practice. For example, you could write down a list of steps you need to take in order to live your life in such a way that you don’t miss out on important things in the future (e.g. buy groceries at certain times during the week or eat food you love). When you finish writing them down, compare these goals with your existing and future dreams. Then think carefully about what obstacles you might face on the way to reaching your vision. Does it really need to be solved right now? Are you sure that you can handle all consequences of the action you are taking? Ask yourself about any uncertainties regarding your current position. This will help guide you on what alternative actions you need to take in order not to waste time. Now that you are fully aware of all the aspects you need to overcome in order to move forward, the other step is to look at who else you could ask to help solve the problem you have identified. This person is responsible for seeing you through the process. They are an unbiased source of information based on experience or theory. By asking them a simple question, you could ask for their advice and they can provide you with some valuable insights. Let them analyse your situation and share their view on what is needed to achieve your desired outcome. Give them a deadline to complete the task, and you can call upon them to check your progress every day or weekly, depending on your schedule. You will find that the closer you get to meeting this deadline, the faster the company and its individual members will grow. At the end of each month, ask members of staff who you trust to assess and evaluate any changes you made since January 1, 2017. These people should give you feedback on how far you have progressed, or whether you need to take necessary steps to improve. Of course, it is not possible to always rely on these people when you want to achieve and succeed at your goals. Sometimes, even though we want to, we have to deal with situations where our knowledge level, expertise, or skills do not allow us to predict everything that is needed on the day so we cannot plan effectively enough for the future. Hence, if you find yourself in such a situation, please consider consulting the following resources.
How to Deal With Difficult People? – http://readwritenow.com/2017/03/24/how-to-deal-with-difficult-people/ I would also recommend using self-reflection tools such as Streaks Analyzer. This tool will be useful to identify the underlying causes of problems, which may lead to miscommunications or poor communication skills. Also, it is quite easy to use, as it does not require additional knowledge beyond basic grammar and syntax.
https://www.britannica.com/people/dont-be-hard-on-difficult-people/
Do you usually give feedback to bad customers? I have experienced this myself. The key is to keep a clear channel of communication and to clearly state all the facts. Even if no one agrees with it, you can still share your opinion. Don’t forget to mention how upset or offended you were by the customer’s attitude, behavior, etc. Keep in mind that if the person still insists, you can argue with him on the grounds that he did not hear you properly, or, if it seems that you did not get his point, you can insist that his/her words were misinterpreted or misunderstood. Remember to remain calm, avoid arguing with people over little trivial aspects, and only react to serious conflicts that need immediate resolution or immediate actions.
It is essential to maintain constant dialogue with customers and to build open relationships with members of staff. This will allow both parties to gain confidence in themselves and know that they are appreciated at all levels, especially if the manager knows. Always remember that no matter whether the client is an employee or a vendor, at one point we all have been wronged, we made a mistake, or there are some issues we may not be ready to address. Even if such an issue did not arise in the past but came up in the present, the most important thing here is to acknowledge the wrongdoing, apologize, and listen to the other party. We should know that our mistakes could have been prevented and also learn from our past experiences. Because this is how we can become better people in the future. Finally, there are several ways you can deal with difficult clients. One of them is to create time for conflict resolution. However, this should be one of the last tasks in your calendar. Try to focus on the positive things the customer wants for you and put your attention only on making improvements instead of resolving the issue. Don’t rush things either. Allow the customer some time to resolve the issue before returning to work. In addition, make sure the message is clear and focused and follow up later. Although, sometimes some difficult customers choose to ignore your messages, still, you can send an email or phone call.
