Image source: http://whoschrishughes.com/the-pursuit-of-happyness-life-lessons/
Resiliency; The ability to bounce back no matter what is thrown at you. In sales, you will see a lot of rejection, a lot of no’s and a lot of ignorance. However, this is not something that should keep you down. If we look at the struggles Chris Gardner (The pursuit of Happyness) faced when trying to get his foot in the door at a brokerage, many would have given up. He persevered and in the end earned his place, through hard work and the ability to be resilient to the competition and downfalls he faced.
Personality (building relationships): Connect with your consumers on a personal level. When selling to a client you need to be smart. Instead of just throwing your product or sales pitch to them, go the extra mile to see what kind of person they are, build a relationship with them. This will not only make them more likely to trust you and be loyal to you, but also give you a idea on this persons likes, hates, needs ect. By creating a relationship with the client/consumer first you are essentially creating an easier sale. Chris Gardner created personal relationships by attending a football match with a potential client and going to his house to apologise for missing a meeting they had arranged. Although this did not secure a sale with the client, the contacts he made through that move were well worth it. Chris also created a great all round reputation for himself.
Confidence: Be confident and sure of what you are selling before you attempt to sell it. If you are not sure of what you are selling how can you expect to convince someone else of its worth? If you don’t know your products benefits and uses how are you going to sell it to the consumer? There’s no use in being resilient and building a relationship with your client if you are not confident in your product or not familiar with what you are selling. The details in the sell are what will ideally secure it. Chris spent hours upon hours learning the business he was selling, needless to say to those of you who know the story well, it really paid off!
Drive/determination:Make sure sales is something you enjoy.Before entering the competitive world of sales, make sure it will be something you will want to do. If you have no drive or determination in your work, then you will fail, the more you fail, the less you’ll enjoy it. It’s the same with any job, except sales is not a job that you can sail through doing the bare minimum. Sales comes with KPI’s and constant targets. If you don’t have the drive and determination to hit those targets, then you won’t succeed. Looking back at Chris Gardner again, his KPI’s were high, the work load was extreme and the environment very stressful. He did not just need the job he wanted it, which is why he put the extra effort in to hit the targets, securing the job and becoming successful.
Chris Gardner Interview scene:
Trustworthy:Make sure you build a reputation of being honest and trustworthy. Making a sale is one thing, creating a loyal client is another. Creating a loyal client generally leads to more sales. If you lose the trust of a consumer, than you initially lose a string of sales, the only thing you’ll gain is a bad reputation. Chris Gardner created great trust with his consumers/clients by sticking to everything he had promised, keeping them updated and following up on all contact they have. He was also extremely polite which makes it easier to contact people in the future.
Video source: YouTube