Online, I stumbled upon an article published by Forbes magazine titled, “3 powerful skills you must have to succeed in sales.” The author of this article is Sharon Michaels. Michaels is a professional business consultant and the author of several books regarding success in the business field. In this article, Michaels quickly points out that the key to selling a product, service, or idea, is to ask many questions and actively listen to the prospect’s answers. She emphasizes that too many salespersons fall into the trap of trying to convince the prospect to buy, rather than discovering what the prospect needs or desires. Michaels goes on to describe an acronym, “SEA”, to help one remember the relational aspect of selling. “SEA” stands for sincerity, ethics, and asking. In regard to sincerity, Michaels stresses the fact that a salesperson should listen without an agenda. By this, she essentially means that when meeting the prospect, one should not be thinking about quotas, promotions, or commissions. Instead, the salesperson should be solely thinking about the client’s needs and how his/her product or service can help meet the prospective buyer’s need. The next topic that Michaels discusses is ethics. With regard to ethics, she strongly suggests that a salesperson should not try to talk someone into something. She states that salesperson’s role in the sales process is to “present one’s product in a clear, concise, and truthful manner”. The last topic Michaels addresses is asking. She proposes that to best serve the client, the salesperson must get to know the prospect. Essentially, the only way to get to know an individual is by asking questions. As such, Michaels stresses that a salesperson needs to build a relationship with the client instead of just seeing the prospect as another sale. In essence, I thought this article was applicable as it reinforces the main ideas we focus on in class.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/womensmedia/2011/08/22/3-powerful-skills-you-must-have-to-succeed-in-sales/#7715e46625f8
BoweryJE22
I love how the idea of not pushing your product on the customer is considered “ethics.” It truly puts into perspective how the pushy salesman notion is not only unwanted, but also out of character. Great post!