I was stuck in sales for 20 years and I couldn’t get out!
By: Tarek Hassan
Tags: Success, Introverts At Work, Business Development, Sales, Successful Entrepreneurs

Do you need to learn how to sell for some reason? This could help.

A story of getting into sales accidentally and the 5 Ps that helped me become an authentic leading sales and business development professional for the last 20 years.

My entire life I have somehow been in a sales function for my career. Every time I try to do something new, it doesn’t quite work out and I am put back into a sales role where I naturally excel. I was never proud of being a salesperson mostly because of the stigma of salespeople being annoying talkers who don’t listen and just like to hear themselves spout off at the mouth. While this is not true in the slightest somehow it has come to be the perception of salespeople without segmentation of the different types of sales roles available.

Conversely, the most effective salespeople are the best listeners and people who like other people. They see sales as a service to their fellow human with a chance to positively affect another person’s life.

If you don’t remember anything I have said here, just please remember this one thing-

Sales is helping. Simple. The more you like to help others, the more sales will be natural to you.

My first taste in sales was when I was 17. I didn’t sell anything. I got sold. My father told me that they didn’t have enough money for me to go to college and I would need to join the Army to qualify for the GI Bill to help us out. Without second guessing this I volunteered that week to go and talk to the recruiter. My father must have thought that was the easiest sale he ever had to make. As I made my way over to the car and as my parents got in, there wasn’t an ounce of nervousness on my part, for some reason. Just like anything else in my life I saw this as an adventure. You can say I was quite gullible in my younger years. Once we arrived at the recruiter’s office we discussed what my choices in jobs could be for the Army. Of course my assumption, and we all know what happens when you assume — you make an ASS out of U and ME, is that he would guide me towards the best suitable position based on my interests and strengths. What a thought right?

It turned out I was being led down a path that would make the recruiter the biggest bonus of his month, instead of something that would satisfy me long term. As I was dreaming of becoming a fire fighter or something exciting like that, the recruiter tells me I am a perfect fit for the food specialist role. Food specialist? Of course, I start imagining myself as one who could concoct great creative meals. I was still quite surprised as I had never had anyone tell me that I would fit in a food service specialty before, especially by just looking at me for the first time. It was the way he told this to me that made me think wow, he must see something in me to say this. Funny isn’t it?

Without hesitation, I signed on the dotted line to become a food service specialist for the US Army and to serve 6 years in the reserve and two years in the independent ready reserve- which meant you wouldn’t have to do anything unless there was a war in those two years and they could call you if they needed you for service. It wasn’t until much later, after going through boot camp and US Army cook school, that my role would apparently turn out to be less glamourous than the way the recruiter pitched it to me at that time.

I ended up waking up earlier than everyone else, cooking eggs and “chili mac” for 300 or more people at a time, and then going to bed after everyone, sorely tired each day. For me, it was the worst job I had ever had. To this day, I am not a fan of being in the kitchen for more than 30 minutes, because of this experience. That was my first lesson in sales…being sold a “bill of goods”. This is where I learned early on what sales should be and what sales shouldn’t be. The goal is to help others, not hurt them.

I am still not sure how I really ended up in sales and why I was natural at it. All I know is I stumbled onto it during college and never really detracted from that path since. My first sales job was working at a cart in the mall selling solid color t-shirts. It was an easy job. All I had to do was charm the customer with attention and see which color matched them the best. At the time, I was more interested in selling myself to the girl who worked the sunglass cart next door to me. Most of my time was spent hanging out with her trying to find the right solution to win her over. I was persistent to say the least. Unfortunately, I kept trying and failing however I never gave up until I started dating another girl from school. That’s where I first learned that persistence will get you somewhere. It might not be with your first choice but with a little bit of work you will be matched with the right person or opportunity.

Relationships are all the same…the one you’re looking for, is looking for you as well! Take it easy but keep moving forward persistently.

Why?

You are probably asking yourself, why do I care if I can sell or not? I can just hire someone on my own can’t I? Short answer…yes you could. However, to lead your company (or to sell anyone on anything at anytime) you will have to learn to sell and share your vision and value proposition at some point — so you might as well start now. If you own your own business, the bonus is, that you will save some money in the beginning. This of course is on top of your ability to be able to sell talented professionals on joining your organization to help you grow towards success. We are selling all the time, to many people…

How many times have you had to sell your wife or husband, your friends, your boss, or even your kids on your idea to get what you want?

Most people think that only sales professionals use sales tactics in everyday life. The truth of the matter is that we ALL use sales techniques all the time. Some of us more than others.

Since we all need to use sales, we might as well learn what it takes to be good at it.

5 Ps of selling

I have been in sales professionally for 21 years now. In that time, I have read plenty of books and advice columns on how to persuade someone else on your ideas and desires. Personally, I have found that many over complicate the topic and create too much thinking in the process which takes away from the natural approach towards another person, to get what you want. With the practical knowledge I have acquired, I have found that there are 5 traits you can master to help you get what you want, to close the deal with the person you are trying to persuade. Believe or not all five traits start with the letter P. This will hopefully make it easier to remember.

The five traits are Passion, Persistence, Proactivity, Product Knowledge, and having a Pleasing personality.

Enthusiasm is very important as well, but since it doesn’t start with a P, it didn’t make the cut for this discussion. Luckily, enthusiasm usually stems from Passion. If you want to sell something, make sure you are passionate about what you are communicating. The person you are selling to will sense your enthusiasm and will be that much more willing to listen to you.

Passion is the foundation to communicating what you want.

Without passion, you have a car without a driver. With passion, you will feel enthusiasm, as stated above, for the product or service, you want to sell. You will gain the natural feeling of excitement and drive to communicate what you want. In the dictionary Passion can be loosely defined as a powerful force pushing you towards something else. The beauty of this trait, is that the feeling is usually contagious and transferred over to the other person listening to you. This in turn creates the same feeling of desire and understanding with the other person. Have you ever said no to a passionate person? If you did, I am sure it wasn’t easy to do. It’s hard to say no to a person bubbling with excitement about something.

Be Persistent.

Have you ever heard someone say, persistence is the key? That’s because it really is. Without persistence, there is no sale. Without persistence, ideas fall short of reaching the point, they are supposed to end up at. Persistence means doing whatever it takes to keep going. Whatever your object, service, or idea is that you are trying to sell, you must make sure to continuously promote it to the other person. You cannot give up. There are countless stories on how small ideas became big because of the persistence of the individual pushing them. Just because someone says no the first time doesn’t mean they will continue to say no the next few times. In sales, you will hear many NO’s before you hear a yes. And that yes might be from the same person that told you NO the first time. The only way to be sure is to stay persistent on that person until they give you a solid yes or they get a court order forcing you to stay at least 500 feet away. That’s a joke of course, but persistence cannot be overstated. The ability to not give up, leads to you getting what you want most of the time.

Proactivity. What is it? The dictionary states it is “Acting in advance to deal with an expected difficulty” or “Acting in anticipation”. Being able to identify and plan answers and feedback to the person you’re trying to sell is very important. Proactivity allows you to figure out what it is the person might need before they say it. Proactivity allows you to create a solution for the other person before they even know they need or desire it. This ability to act first before the person requires you to act on their behalf is a reason that so many sales happen. You are gauging a future need for that person. The act of proactivity also includes continuously providing future service to that individual with other products or services before they ask. Without proactivity, you lose out on sales opportunities that could have existed otherwise.

Know your Product

The next trait that is very important is product knowledge. Knowing the product (or service) you are selling is a major factor in sales. The only way to inform the other person confidently of what you want them to buy into, is to be ready to answer any and all questions about the product or service you are selling them. If you don’t have the correct information the other person might question your credibility when it comes to this certain request. You need to be the expert with your product or service to gain credibility. Without credibility, your chances of closing the deal is significantly reduced. Make sure you that you know what you are talking about and make sure whatever it is you’re trying to sell meets the demands requested by the other person you are selling to. As well, make sure there isn’t anything else out there that could satisfy the customer better. Do your research on the product and make sure you know what makes it unique to the individual you are selling to.

Finally, the most underlying characteristic all successful salespeople have is being able to obtain or show a pleasing personality, along with friendliness, to the person they’re trying to sell. Let’s be honest. If you’re not in it for the interest of the other person, nothing you do will work. You need to find a way to please the individual with friendliness and show that you are trying to find the unique solution that fits them. One way this can be done is simply by asking questions. Asking the other person questions like “How can I help you today?”. “Have you seen or heard about these products or services before? And if so, have you thought about how they can help you?” Another is “What issues are you having or what problems exist for you, which I can help you resolve?” or “What can I do to make this work for you?” All these are examples of ways to show you are interested in pleasing the person you are trying to sell BY ASKING QUESTIONS (VERY IMPORTANT). When there’s interest in the other person, the other person will become interested in what you need to say. If you have the personality trait of pleasing, you will hardly ever fail- so long as you persist in showing it. When you ask questions to please your customer, a very beautiful thing starts to happen — that is the ability to uncover a specific benefit to the customer. Once you find the specific benefit to them with your product or service you are pretty much headed towards closing a deal with them.

Bonus P: There is another word that starts with P which underlies, as a foundation, all the other Ps. Without this P, implementing the other Ps will be a tough task. This P is Positivity. Always work on being and staying positive. A positive mindset will change your life. There will always be a reason to go negative, however staying positive will lead to success, and really…it’s your only path to success. Everyone likes a positive person. If the customer likes you, they will work with you given you have value to offer them.

While every sale and every individual are different these five traits will help you establish a higher success rate when looking to convince your wife, husband, friend, coworker, or client on any matter. Sales is all around us. Even if our job or life description doesn’t state the word sales in it, the need for sales is always there- whether we want it to be there or not, so we might as well be good at it. If you have any questions please email me anytime at jumpstartjourney@gmail.com. Good luck and happy selling!

Tarek Hassan

Twitter: @positivetarek

www.jumpstartjourney.com