The tag line of this blog is;
at the end of the day everything is sales
I really believe this. Sales is about influence. It’s about being able to influence people to make decisions, from getting your spouse to marry you, geting your kids to eat broccoli, promote an idea at work or getting a job, sales is at the core of much of our life.
Understanding this, I thought I’d provide my thoughts on sales for life and some key sales tips for selling in life. If you can become a better life sales person, you’ll find you will have a bit more success.
Selling in life is no different than selling for business. You have to have a good product. You need to have something people want. You have to understand what motivates people. You need to know how they make decisions. You need to identify their objections or concerns. You need to ask for the close, or in “life speak” for a commitment.
Have a good product/idea:
Life is no different than business, if you don’t have anything people want you’re wasting your time. Make sure your idea at work is well thought out. In your personal life, if you’re single, work on your person, be clear on what type of boyfriend or girlfriend you’d make. Focus on your relationship building skills. Stay in shape and make yourself desirable. No matter what “it” is, make sure it’s the best it can be. Selling poor products, or ideas makes the job much more difficult. Focus on the product!
Find the people who need or want it and what motivates them:
Ever try selling something to someone who doesn’t need it? If you have, you know what I’m talking about. It’s a waste of time. Find the peson at work who benefits the most from your idea first. Get them on board. Trying to convince the family to take a charity vacation instead of a lazy vacation, know what is most important to the kids and what motivates them. A habitat for humanity in Mexico by the beach would win the day. Maybe a trip to Nepal to with a traveling dentist would do the trick. They get to go somewhere exotic, you get the charity vacation. Know the motivations of the people in your life.
Know their concerns (uncover objections)
Be sensitive to peoples concerns. Pay close attention to their body language and their responses. Ask lots of questions. Learn what their concerns are, why they feel uncomfortable with a decision or idea. Spend a lot of time trying to put yourself in their shoes. As in selling, people have feelings and reactions to making decisions. Being aware of their concerns puts you in a positon to overcome them and to address them. Likes sales knowing peoples concerns or uncovering their objections is critical.
Know how they make decisions
In business, sales decisions are formal, they are usually made by committee. They can be long, and illogical at times but it is critical to understand exactly how they work. In life sales, knowing how people make decisions is just as key. If your spouse needs a day to think through things, take that into consideration when presenting an idea. If you’re boss is an information hound and needs data to make decisions, don’t tell him your idea, present it with reams of data. Know how people make decisions before you approach them. It will make the sale easier.
Ask for the commitment (close)
Just as in sales, asking for the close is key. In life, this is a commitment. Dating is the perfect example. We spend months and even years selling and then one day we go for the close and ask them to marry us. All closes require a commitment, a yes. Just like in sales, you have to ask. Ask your boss for the raise. Ask the recruiter for the job. Ask the kids to eat their broccali, ask the boyfriend to marry you. Ask!
Life requires all of us to sell more often then we realize. Getting ahead, creating opportunities, starting families, going to college, getting a job, all require selling. Knowing how to sell in life is a great skill. One you can’t avoid. So you might as well get good at it.
Only a small portion of us sell for a living, but all of us have to sell for life.