Sales Philosophy: What You Believe Determines How Well You Sell

I have a simple sales philosophy: provide value first and make a friend at all costs.

Now, whats YOURS? Do you believe every word of it? You should, if you want to be a great salesperson.

EVERY salesperson should have a sales philosophy that they firmly believe in. It represents your values and defines who you are as a company and as a salesperson. It also affects how you approach your customers and how effective you are at making the sale.

I think I already have a sales philosophy

You may think you have a good sales philosophy, but chances are it needs improvement. Does it accurately represent YOU? Is it as effective as you think it is?

In reality, you probably fall into one of these two categories:

A. Youve been trained to follow some silly, scripted sales process you barely believe in, and may even hate.

B. Youve been in sales for what you consider to be a long time and have your own way of selling.

A: The Scripted Sales Philosophy

This usually happens to the newest of salespeople. They join the team, get a few scripts and are told to go get em! Let them get their teeth kicked in a few times, theyll learn. Is that really the best way to train someone in sales?

Well, there is something to be said for failing your way to success, but youre disheartening and devaluing your recent sales investmentyour new hires.

There are very few times when a verbatim script will actively engage another human being, whether its a cold call over the phone or in person. People buy from people, not a phony sales script. When your sales philosophy, or the one you are forced to swallow, doesnt match what you believe deep in your heart, you will NOT be a successful salesperson.

B: The Dated Sales Philosophy

So, youve been in sales for a long time and have grown accustomed to your own way of doing things, but is your method still working? Or has it gathered dust and lost its meaning, edge and effectiveness?

Maybe youre stuck in your habits, or perhaps youre anxious about trying something completely new. Whatever your reason for sticking with this method, its time to realize that this reality wont bring you the sales results that you want. Your numbers could be better if you let go of your excuses and old ways. Start with a new sales philosophy!

How do I develop a sales philosophy?

The key to developing a great sales philosophy depends on you and your individual values. The most important thing about is that you make sure it is completely YOURS.

First, however, you must identify your companys unique sales philosophy: what it wants its customers to think about the company, the products and the people. Then you need to consider what YOUR personal sales philosophy is. What YOU want your customers to think about you, the products you have chosen to represent, and the company you have chosen to work for.

There will often be some discrepancies between these two philosophies, but learning to work your own personal sales philosophy within your company is the key to success.

Using a sales philosophy that is not in line with your own values will only leave you frustrated with lackluster results. So stop using trained scripts and old habits that no longer represent you and what you have to offer as a salesperson!

Identifying your unique sales philosophy and harnessing the power of its authenticity will give you the enthusiasm to achieve the results you desire! Your customers will see your self-confidence and trust coming to you for their needs. If you truly believe in your sales philosophy, your company and your product, they will, too!

Tom Richard is the author of a weekly sales ezine titled, Sales Muscle. To receive a free subscribtion to this ezine send a blank email to subscribe@tomrichard.com

Are You Selling By The Numbers Only?
For years, sales managers and sales trainers have been saying that sales is a numbers game. I can recall my first sales manager telling me over 35 years ago, If you will see enough people, you will make enough sales. First of all whats enough sales? Second of all, how many is enough people? Thirdly, is this the best approach to take to prospect for new business? This is why I hate clichs and managers and sales trainers who quote them only be...

Sales Training Tips for Aircraft Sales Businesses
If you are a sales manager in charge of training aircraft sales people you need to be sure of a number of items. Aircraft sales should not be a high-pressure business and if you have people coming from the auto industry to sell aircraft you might be surprised if they do not do as well as you might expect. The average aircraft buyer is much more sophisticated and in the aircraft generally sell from between $100,000 for a small single up to 10-15...

Sales Training Tip - 10 Reasons Why Hard Sales Tactics Never Work
Hard selling is when you go straight to the point and start to try to sell your product without any finesse. It is simply telling your prospective buyer that he should buy your product. Now this hard-core approach may work in some instances but the majority of your prospective buyers will be put off the sale by this approach. Here are 10 good reasons to change your sales tactics.1. People hate being sold to: hard sell will bring out the worst in ...

Should You Or Shouldn’t You?
Many people today struggle with the need to know what will happen tomorrow, next week or this year. Some have the need to manipulate tomorrow or to have life be in order or certain. I can only tell you that one philosophy which has served me well all these years is: learn to embrace the unexpected and release the expected.I never thought my life would turn out this way. How about you? Is your life unfolding exactly the way you want? Planned? E...

The 10-80-10 Selling Rule
Mike came to my office one day looking very discouraged. He had been selling for about two months. He was doing significantly above average so his discouraged look surprised me.I asked him what was wrong and he said, I dont understand it. With my last prospect I thought I did a perfect selling job. The greeting went very well. My fact finding told me all the important things he wanted. His response to my product presentation seemed ideal. I over ...