7 Keys to Selling Anything, Regardless of Experience

HeroWhether you already sell and want to sell more, or you think “you’re not in sales,” this will help you get laser focused on getting customers easier this year.

How often have you heard that sales is a “numbers game?”

Well, as much as we all have targets, budgets, and quotas to hit, sales is not a numbers game. It’s more like a people game. When you learn more about people, you will understand how to be a sales hero.

These keys will help you get back to what selling is and simply help more people buy from you.

Keys to Selling #1: Don’t be a Salesy Weirdo

You know what it feels like when someone is weird and trying to sell to you, right? Maybe you have been that weirdo yourself? It just feels uncomfortable! So let’s stop the weirdness.

Some people ask, “what if I’m already weird?” Here’s the catch, the “Salesy Weirdo” factor is the difference between how you normally speak with people and this odd character you create for the salesperson you become. There are two types of weirdos:

  1. The overly formal and serious closer type of salesy weirdo. This is what I often hear people trying to be when they think of themselves in selling. Please don’t do this. Stop the madness
  2. The overly enthusiastic, everything is awesome, salesy weirdo. You know this one. You answer the phone and it sounds like, “Hiiiiii, how are yooooooou today?” And you think, “oh god, sales rep.” Please don’t do that. Please, stop doing that. Please don’t call me and do that.

Be more authentic. Be normal.

When I build sales conversations with clients, we do a huge part of our work on pre-call planning and opening the call effectively. The first 30-90 seconds decides everything on a sales call. Part of that planning is setting your intentions on how you want to be perceived.

Keys to Selling #2: Be a Master Listener

It’s funny to me that most people work so hard to learn all of their stuff like product knowledge, ROI, their sales pitch, etc. But so few practice how to be an effective listener.

  • Do you catch yourself just waiting for your turn to speak?
  • Do you interrupt people?
  • Do you forget to acknowledge when they tell you something?
  • Do you talk more than you listen?

The biggest listening skill? Empathy. Just try and imagine what is going on in their world and care about them! Ask great questions, pay attention, and show you actually care about them. Sounds crazy, right?

Keys to Selling #3: Think of Your Customer as a Long Term Partner

Look at your customer’s world through their eyes. Try and imagine what they’re dealing with and work your butt off to try and add value to their day. Imagine what it would take for them to invite you to their board room to discuss strategy. Who would you have to become to be the first person they call when they have an idea – whether they buy from you or not?

If you apply all of these keys and have real, insightful, and opportunity-focused conversations, it now becomes more about you and them against the problem, rather than you against them. You stand beside each other, rather than across from each other. And when you start thinking like this, naturally your language will be along the lines of, “Wow, this is really an interesting project. I think we would work well together and I would love to bring you on as a client to work on this.”

Keys to Selling #4: Keep Your Language Simple

I’ve been studying a cool thing called the “fluency effect” which is essentially how communication relies on how effectively your message is delivered. If you use complicated words, unnecessary fonts in design, or complex descriptions, you run the risk of your message not being received.

So stop using jargon, acronyms, and all other things that you are trying to sound smart with, and work on talking like a human.

The question I ask myself is, “Can I simplify a complex idea or do just I mask mediocre ideas with complex language?”

Keys to Selling #5: Be More Vulnerable

You don’t need to make stuff up to sound smart, you don’t need to invent fancy words, and you don’t need to try and impress people. Let them just be impressed by you.

When I do big group sales sessions, this is probably the most difficult conversation to have, as no one wants to be vulnerable – especially in sales. We have to put on that armor, be perfect, and not flinch, right? Mirror neurons in our brain are a big part of empathy and that humans subconsciously mirror each other in day to day life. If you are confident, you will pass that on. Likewise, if we are asking our clients to be vulnerable and to open up and share with us, mirror neurons are firing. Well, if we put on a perfect, “everything is awesome” front, guess what they will do. Yup, the same.

Be normal, open up, and tell them you are unclear about something they said. Share a lesson you learned about something this year. Perhaps a struggle you are having in keeping your resolutions. Anything.

Vulnerability does not mean weakness. It means you’re human. Humans buy from other humans.

I try and apply this all the time on my own sales calls, whether it is with a CEO of a huge company, or a new entrepreneur. We all want to have more real conversations in our days, right?

Keys to Selling #6: Disrupt Their Patterns

One of the areas I love studying is the field of “social cognitive neuroscience.” Simply put, that’s the way our brains work when interacting with others. Over the past decade, there have been so many new studies as the technology like fMRIs allow us to see inside the brain as it actively works. This stuff is fascinating, especially as it applies to selling.

But, let’s keep it simple. Think about all the stuff you have to do every day. All the stimuli – the buzzes, beeps, emails, social media, videos, family, and so on…

Now empathize with your poor customer. They have it just as bad as you. And you want to add to their plate by selling to them. Giving them content, info, more to think about…shame on you!

What do we want to do? Make their lives easier!

Your customer has a lot on their mind. What will you do to disrupt their thinking and pay attention to you?

The way the brain works here is that the survival mechanism acts like a gatekeeper. All this happens at the subconscious level.

  1. If it’s not new and exciting, we dismiss it.
  2. If it is new and exciting, we decide if we should pay attention
  3. If it is new, exciting, and we should pay attention, then we will process it in our thinking brain

So before you start giving a bunch of information, ask yourself if what you are doing for your customers is new and exciting. When their attention starts to waver and their eyes gloss over (and that will happen), what will you do to bring them back? Share a story, do something interesting, or provide an insight they would have never thought of.

Keys to Selling #7: Have Fun

I hope that all of these points connect with you and give you some take-aways for your own business. If you apply just one lesson, use this one. Have fun, connect with others, and get excited about the opportunity to just have conversations with customers. Forget about results. Focus on being totally, 100% present with everyone you talk to.

Find a way to genuinely enjoy what you do, laugh more, and help others feel more relaxed.

The best gift you can give someone else is your own energy, so ask yourself if you are giving energy or taking it from others.

Whether you are just starting out or have decades of experience, go make a difference in the life of your customer. Have fun, connect, solve problems, and just help them buy from you.

– Joe Girard

Joe Girard is a sales coach who helps his clients get results and have fun. He’s an authority on empowering people to sell more, have fun, and win consistently. Joe combines a mix of sales expertise, education, and leadership development to enable more professionals to become “Sales Heroes.” They’re the ones who are willing to do the hard work to serve those around them. He works with individuals, teams, and organizations to create systems, have deeper understanding of how their customers make decisions, and build their bulletproof mindset to succeed. Learn more about him at joegirard.ca, changegrowachieve.com, and at salesheroacademy.com.

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