Foreword: This article is specially meant for consumption of my many friends who are already in or aspiring to be in the direct sales profession. My purpose is to share with them my observations which I feel should be useful as food for thought. I hope my sharing now would cast some light on the related perspectives of their endeavour.
First and foremost, I wish to qualify the term “direct sales”. In this context, I refer to all sales force members or sales personnel whose job is to sell their products directly to potential customers - whether they are in their own respective enterprise, or with an agency contract tied to a principal, or are company personnel on incentive packages offered by sales-oriented organizations.
Whilst “sales” in its generic term correctly defines the key focus of their role, yet there are some holistic “truths” of the task which many are unconsciously aware of. I intend to point out these related aspects for recognition.
· You are in a business:
Selling itself is a business. Because you are in a business, it is incumbent on you to mean business; the only way to reflect you mean business is to be totally serious about the business. To be serious means to be totally committed.
· You are in a people and relationship building business:
You call and see people with the aim of selling to them. You deal with people every day. How you interact with your potential customers, how you approach, how you present your ideas, how you build relationship, and so forth, will have a bearing to your sales scores. Selling business entails “people buy people”. Your potential customer or prospect must “buy” you first, based on your overall personality, disposition and quality, before he is prepared to consider your products. He must first feel comfortable dealing with you before he buys from you. An effective sales person is one who can convert a prospect into a customer, and then from customer into a client. Why do I say that? For example, your customer who has bought one product from you may not be your client as yet. He becomes your client if he buys all related products that you have, from you only and from no one else. Whether you are deemed to be sincerely taking care of customer needs as your priority, or concerned about your own needs like your earnings, will have different impact in terms of your image. Once you can win over the full trust of the people whom you build relationship with……..bingo!
· You are in a mission business:
A mission is an endeavour that a person pursues out of ardent love. Ask yourself whether you love meeting people. Ask yourself whether you love talking to people about your products. Ask yourself whether you get great satisfaction from your tasks. Ask yourself whether you fully believe in what you do regarding your business. Ask yourself whether you have high self-esteem. If all your answers are unequivocally “yes”, then there is no doubt you are in the right vocation. If your answers are half-heartedly positive, then you should do some soul-searching …….soul-search what you can do to instil higher passion in you so that you feel being on a mission rather than mere business. For example, read testimonies of customers who express the goodness of your products or services. If, after soul-searching you still feel that sales is not your cup of tea, it is apt to exit quickly than to hang on aimlessly.
· You are in a challenge business:
Driving sales itself is a challenge. You must be prepared to challenge yourself to hit your goals year after year. You must be willing to overcome all obstacles that crop up along your path. Like it or not, changes transpire continually, and some changes may pose as disadvantages to your mission; so you have to be resiliently optimistic to embrace inevitable changes as part of the challenges you face from time to time. A resilient optimist perceives opportunity in every disadvantage he encounters; a relenting pessimist perceives disadvantage in every opportunity that knocks on his door. Whether you are a resilient optimist or a relenting pessimist depends on whether you are a challenger or deserter. You are in the wrong vocation if you are not willing to accept challenges.
· You are in an environment business:
The office surroundings, the atmosphere, the aura, the situations, the activities, the type of peers – these constitute the overall phenomena that either boost or otherwise dampen your spirit. Attitude is not inborn; instead it is cultivated. A sales person may be most positive at the beginning, but if he is not alert, negative elements can slowly creep into his mental frame and erode the positive ones. To keep your spirit high, always remember to assimilate the positives but meanwhile be consciously alert to stay away from the negatives. You have your choice. You should get in the midst of positive surroundings, atmosphere, aura, situations and activities, but refrain to be part of the otherwise.
· You are in the creativity business:
Ever heard of creative selling? Active presentations are invariably creative enough for capturing prospective customers’ attention. Imagine two sales persons proposing the same product to the same prospective customer: The first one deploys a creative method, the other just runs through facts. Needless for me to say who will attract the prospect and then close the sale. Avoid being mundane. Learn to be creative.
· You are in a discipline business:
Those who have reaped great results repeatedly follow a rigid regime of making appointments. They adhere to a rigid timetable starting in the morning till evening. They ensure they spend sufficient time in the field to call on contacts. They do not while away their time in vain chat over long coffee break in the office. Because of their discipline, they are the ones who continue to stay high continuously. They do not believe in achievements for one or two years, but for long term. Self-discipline goads them moving on without turning back.
· You are in personal development business:
In my years of involvement in the insurance industry, I have had witnessed some friends in the sales force who groomed up from plain to dynamic personalities. When they first joined the line, they were quiet and subdued in demeanour. Due to their eagerness to “grow”, they attended seminars and programmes to gain more exposure. They attended courses conducted by industry “gurus” to build up their self-confidence. They enhanced their mental capacity through reading, reflecting, analysing and perhaps meditating too. They also frequently engage in meaningful fellowship with positive-minded individuals for exchange of ideas. Now, they move around with aura of confidence in the manner they express and gesture. Charisma is attained through a process of personal development.
Quotes: “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood” – Marie Curie.
“Our life is what our thoughts make it” – Marcus Aurelius.
“Your greatest challenge is yourself. If you stop accepting challenges, you stop
progressing" - unknown.
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