It is a proven fact that in order to excel in any selling situation, one must have confidence, and confidence comes, first and foremost, from knowledge. One must know and understand his goals recognize and accept his weakness and special talents.This requires a kind of personal honesty that not everyone is capable of exercising.

One of the most common faults of sales people is impatience when the prospective customer is slow to understand or make a decision. The successful salesperson handles these situations the same as he would if he were asking a girl for a date, or even applying for a new job.

Selling is challenging. It demands the utmost of your creativity and innovative thinking. The more success you want, and the more dedicated you are to achieving your goals, the more you'll sell. Hundreds of people the world over become millionaires each month through selling. Many of them were flat broke and unable to find a "regular" job when they began their selling careers. Yet they've done it, and you can do it too!

Here are some guidelines that will definitely improve your gross sales, and quite naturally, your gross income. I like to call them the Strategic Salesmanship Commandments. Look them over; give some thought to each of them; and adapt those that you can to your own selling efforts.

DON'T OVER REACT

Don't over-react by interrupting the customer while they are speaking. First of all, you cut them off, which upsets them, and secondly you appear as if you are dying for the sale.

Let the customer finish speaking. Be empathetic. Show you understand the concern and then deal with the objection. If it's price, agree, that while it might seem high it's not when you consider how the product or services saves time, helps them cut costs, helps expand their business and so on.

Look for solutions. Ask for less. Many times a customer will say they are happy with the person they are doing business with. In fact, it might be a family member or a relative. Hard to argue against. See if you can get part of it. Say, that's fine. Tell them you just want them to give you a chance to show them

What you can do for them. Point out it is always better to have more than one company supplying a product or service. A good example for this area is when the seller is already with a Realtor, or is adamant about selling it his/her self. Point out that your consulting with them, or working with them, just gives them another avenue to help them move their property. Remember, it's never a good idea to knock the competition.

RAPPORT AND SELLING

Sales research has shown that over 90% of the sales process is based on having a good rapport with the prospect. You may have the best coverage for your client and you may represent the most reputable firm(s), however, if you don't have rapport, your prospect will find a reason to buy from another agent.

We usually develop rapport easily with people who are like us. It is very difficult to understand or feel comfortable with people who are not like us. We perceive them as strange. We judge others based on how we see the world.

Before we can try to talk about how we can satisfy our prospect's needs, we have to get him prepared to listen to us. We do this by getting him to trust us -- by developing rapport.

PRACTICE MAKES SALES

The technique of mirroring takes practice to learn effectively. Try it on your family and friends so it becomes a natural skill for you to use. When you become proficient at using this technique, your prospect will not realize what you are doing. He will only feel extremely comfortable with you because you are so much like him.

Remember, 90% of the sales process is rapport. Use the technique of instant rapport and watch your closing ratio soar!

ASSUME THAT YOU ALREADY HAVE THE SALE

When you finish your spiel with a client, don't ever say "do you want to set up an appointment?" -- instead say "WHEN do you want to get started?" Don't give them the OPTION to say no. I always ask people, "So what's your time frame for getting started?" That makes them think a little differently than saying, "When do you want to set up an appointment?" Or say, "Well, I've got Tuesday afternoon and Friday morning free next week -- which works for you?" Be in charge of the situation and you'll see a lot more leads become clients.

If you accept our statement that there are no born salesmen, you can readily absorb these "commandments". Study them, as well as all the material stated here. When you realize your first successes, you will truly know that "salesmen are MADE - not born".