Selling
Establish a demand by asking questions.
Identify triggers and pain points as foundations for building a valuable proposition for instigating action. The key is blending attunement, buoyancy, and clarity - the new ABCs of selling in a world of informed buyers. Aim to take the high road of integrity and problem-solving rather than manipulative tactics. With practice, these habits can make anyone more effective at selling and persuading others.
Practice
Pitch with questions, rhymes, and email subject lines that engage. Hone your improvisational skills to handle unexpected situations and objections.
Develop your attunement skills:
- Practice perspective-taking and seeing things from the other person's point of view.
- Understand and empathise with frustrations and needs of the Job to be Done to qualify and quantify demand.
- Use reflective listening to understand the other person's perspective and build a trusted connection.
- Be aware of mimicry - subtly mirror the other person's mannerisms and language to build rapport.
- Hone your social cartography skills to read the dynamics in a room.
Cultivate buoyancy to stay afloat in the face of rejection:
- Prepare yourself mentally before sales encounters.
- Maintain an optimistic explanatory style, especially after rejections.
Bring clarity by curating information and solving problems:
- Distil information to make sense of it for the customer.
- Identify problems the customer may not even realize they have.
Aim to be an ambivert - balance extroversion and introversion:
- Adapt your style situationally, knowing when to speak up and when to listen.
- Most people fall in the middle of the introvert-extrovert spectrum, which is ideal for sales
Focus on serving others rather than just making the sale:
- Genuinely try to improve the customer's life in some way.
- Adopt the mindset that if you're not making someone's life a little better, you're doing it wrong.