Gavin Ingham - Selling Tips

Sales Superstar Secrets: How the World's Best Salespeople Get More Sales! Part I

People often ask me what the difference is between sales superstars and sales "wannabes". There are many possible answers to this question however there are several core characteristics that sales superstars display in bucket loads which are often missing or less obvious in more mediocre performers.

Not surprisingly, few of these are rocket science and none of them will surprise you that much! It would be really easy to read through them and think, "I know that!" but the far better question is, "Do I really implement that and if I did implement that consistently, what difference would it make for me?" So I challenge you to read this twice, rate yourself (honestly) on a scale of 1-10 in each area and then create an action plan to increase your effectiveness and consistency in every area.

Have a plan and work it every day

Sales superstars know what they want and they are focused on getting it. Period. When I run sessions I ask individuals to review WHY they are in sales and WHAT they want to get out of it. Most people do the exercise with the state of mind… "I know this" or "Why are we doing this? Can't we just get on with it??!" The problem is that although it seems obvious, it's this desire that focuses us on doing what we need to do on a day to day basis.

Top sales performers plan their day the night before or at the very latest in the morning over their coffee. Rather than chatting about the latest reality TV programme (they probably don't watch that rubbish anyway!) they are getting down to planning their day. They ask themselves questions like, "How can I achieve my goals today?", "What activities do I need to undertake today?" and "How can I add value for my clients today?". Then they plan their campaign and work through it meticulously.

Prospect new clients every day

Metaphorically speaking, sales is a bucket with a hole in the bottom. Get over it! If you stop filling the bucket, it will soon be empty. Empty bucket means an empty sales pipeline and an empty bank account. You can sometimes patch up the hole short-term by improving your client relationships, increasing your sales skills and by creating more from existing accounts but long term the bucket is still leaky!

Whether you fill your bucket by cold calling, networking, referrals, events, PR, marketing, direct mail, white papers… you need to be doing this every day. We all know this but only sales superstars do it! Most salespeople only prospect when they have little or no choice. Not only is this the wrong way to go about it, you also guarantee that you're feeling pretty desperate when you do get around to it! And what client likes a desperate salesperson?

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