Sales can be one of the most exhilarating aspects of business, when you make a sale you get a rush that drives you to make the next sale, and so on. But before you make your next sale, I have some things that you should be asking yourself.
- What are you trying to accomplish?
- Who are you in your company?
- Who are you in front of this prospect?
- Are you coming from a place of service?
- Is this sale something that you will feel good about later?
That feeling that I mentioned earlier can become addicting to some sales people. This feeling leads them to make sales that may not be in the best interest of their clients, simply to regain that feeling of excitement. In order to be an effective and reputable sales person, you need to let go of the excitement each sale brings, and focus on what is important for your client. A successful and well-liked sales person will not force a sale simply to meet a quota; they would rather miss their monthly goal than to have a client who is not satisfied with their service.
Forcing a close is not an effective way to conduct business; in fact, it may have the opposite effect and hurt your reputation rather than help it. If you become known in your field as someone who is only looking out for their own bottom line, you will likely not receive as many return calls as someone else in your division. At the end of the day, you have to live with the deals that you have made, if you can look back on your day and feel that every deal was a success and you didn’t force any sales, then you had a good day. However, if you look back on your day with regrets, you will have to find a way to conduct yourself in a more positive manner the next day.
Simply because you may have made a sale for the wrong reason the day before, does not mean that you have to continue operating in that manner. You have the ability to change the way in which you treat your clients. They should be seen as more than a dollar sign and treated with the respect and courtesy that they deserve. If you operate in this manner, you may notice that your client list is continually growing and your are making more sales than ever before. A kind word, respect, and courtesy can go a long way in establishing a trusting and profitable relationship with a client.