The most important skill you must possess

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned the importance of sales and emphasized the need to master the art of selling. Most of us would dismiss that the ability to sell is only for salesmen and marketing executives. But I beg to differ and I think that there is no difference between working for money or making money.
In order to excel in your trade, you must be able to sell your ideas and thoughts. If you cannot articulate well and make your colleagues buy-in your thoughts and proposals, it is difficult to progress in your career, no matter how technically competent you are. This is because if you do not know how to sell yourself, your colleagues will have no idea how good you are and very likely, you will be passed by for promotions.
Grow money

Sales is King
Last week, my wife and myself went to buy groceries at Sheng Siong hypermart and saw a big crowd outside the store. We went forward and saw a man demonstrating the usefulness of a micro-fiber cloth. It was actually a simple cloth used to wipe table and kitchen top. But he managed to illustrate how stain-free it can be from dark substances like soy sauce and even showed that it can also be used to wipe mirror and sofa seats.

It was a very hot morning but he managed to grab the attention of many people and convinced many people to buy from him. My wife, who is usually not an impulsive spender, bought two packets from him. I thought that within an hour, he managed to make more than a few hundreds of profits! Several lessons can be learned from this episode:
1) To sell effectively, your product must meet a need. The micro-fiber cloth is a simple product, but many housewives find it useful for maintaining cleanliness at home.

2) Make an impression or impact within 10 minutes. If you cannot grab your client’s attention within the first 10 minutes, you will find it difficult to engage him no matter how good your product is. The guy selling the clothes managed to grab the attention of the housewives and created crowd attention instantly.

3) Do not be afraid of challenges. The guy set up his stall in front of a hypermart and most likely, the hypermart might carry his product too. However, he focused on the problems faced by housewives and convinced the customers to buy through repeat demonstrations. Most salesmen if given a choice, will always ring up the easier customers. But if you want to be successful in sales, always tackle the most difficult customers first.

4) Do not be afraid of setbacks and hardships. That was a hot morning, yet the guy stayed at the same spot for at least an hour peddling the clothes. Of course not all the crowd bought from him but that didn’t stop him. In the sales line, it is inevitable that you made hundreds of unsuccessful cold calls. The key to be a successful salesman is to persevere and keep improving your craft.

So do educate yourself and master the art of selling to advance your career!

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Magically yours,

SG Wealth Builder

One thought on “The most important skill you must possess

  • April 26, 2013 at 4:57 am
    Permalink

    Your topic today simply reminds me of what Robert Allen taught in his weekly meetings.
    “Wide and Deep”
    “Go for No”

    your points have rightly illustrated the above 😀

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