7 Sales Skills That Can Make You Very Successful in Selling

Selling is a skill that anyone can learn if they have the desire but this requires a certain amount of effort and discipline because to say that selling is easy would be a lie. However with the right type of training that focuses more on results than on simple selling techniques, great progress can be made in a short period of time.

1. Reading your Customer

How is it possible to read more of what your customer is thinking in order to help you understand their needs more accurately? This is something that we all need to do to the best of our ability because it can seriously affect our sales conversion rates. People buy from people and it therefore makes sense to know who we are dealing with and what exactly makes them tick. It all comes down to the way you question the prospect. I don't think it's enough to uncover their product or service needs; you also need to uncover what emotional hot buttons would work well too. People will reveal all this information if you know how to incorporate it into the questions you ask.

2. Maintaining Positivity

Do whatever it takes to stay positive because it will make such a difference to the end result. Ironically, one of the most important techniques for maintaining positivity is to avoid negativity. Once you have achieved this it will be easier to surround yourself with more fruitful influences of your own choice and making.

3. Be a Sponge For Ideas

Never stop learning because there's always something new out there that can help you get better results. There's so much free information on the internet but the major problem with this is the amount of time you spend deciphering all the watered down poor quality stuff from the genuinely useful information. Sometimes it's just better to read one good book from a reliable source because it will be so much easier.

4. Respond Don't React

When something goes badly there are two ways you can react. You can either start feeling sorry for yourself or you can respond with greater determination. One of the greatest weaknesses you'll find in sales people is the inability to control their emotions. When a deal doesn't go to plan a lot of sales people get emotionally affected and it tends to impact on the remaining part of the working day. This is a big mistake and can be avoided quite easily.

5. Trial and Error

Keep trying new stuff because it's the only way to keep improving when it comes to selling. It's all about getting better at what you are good at and eliminating what you are not so good at. There's no point in spending all your time trying to perfect what doesn't really fit your personality type.

6. Refine Your Pitch

Your pitch is so important because it opens so many doors for you. It has to be the most powerful thing you say to any prospect because it starts the ball rolling. I believe that not enough sales people work on their pitch as much as they could do. If you go back to the very basic sales model of IADA (Interest, Attention, Desire & Action) the pitch is what captures the interest of the prospect and this is the spark that starts the selling process.

7. Learn to Say "NO" More often

You'll often find that you start your day in a very determined manner but things start to trip you up along the way. A lot of these distractions come from people around you who interrupt your flow. If people keep trying to get you to do tasks that don't help your selling try to work out ways of delegating tasks. You have to be able to leverage all of the possible resources available to you. "No" is not always bad and sometimes it is downright necessary.

David Lynch is a Sales Training Designer & Accomplished Author. He has more than 20 years experience in a variety of industries including software, insurance & hospitality. If you would like to learn more sales skills from David you can download a Free Copy of his E-book "25 Mistakes To Avoid When Selling" at http://www.saleswillgrow.com/freesalestraining2.html