By Dean M. Brenner
The Latimer Group, LLC

What if I told you that the key to more sales growth is NOT focus on the end result? It's true. Our work with successful sales professionals shows us that those who concentrate on all the other pieces of the sales process get the best results.

Sound crazy? Not at all. Think about it this way: If you have a good product and provide good service; if you network well and work hard to educate potential customers; if you can articulate who you are, what your product is and why it has value; and if you execute and deliver the things you say you will - closing the sale will take care of itself. We call this task-oriented selling.

When selling any product (or service), business professionals are selling themselves as representatives of that product. Securing the customer's purchase is as much about the relationship with the salesperson as it is about the intangible itself. Successful selling is a three-step process: first, sell yourself; then sell your company; and then sell your product.

The four key ingredients to successful selling are:

1. product knowledge;
2. a focus on customer needs/wants;
3. a passion for what you do and sell, and
4. good communication skills.

At The Latimer Group, we group and label these four ingredients as selling the product implicitly, (as opposed to selling the product explicitly). The implicit salesperson projects that he or she is more concerned with the customer's need than with closing the sale. The explicit salesperson is driven solely by making the sale, regardless of what he or she projects. The salespeople who consistently bring an implicit sales approach to their work build trust and loyalty with customers. Effective, implicit selling is NOT about catch phrases, slick verbal maneuvers or the ability to corner your potential customer into a sale. It is about identifying the customer need and then finding a solution to fill that need.

Effective communication and public speaking skills are a critical part of this process. Most of us tend to think of public speaking skills as the ability to stand up in front of a group and give a talk. In reality, for most people good public speaking skills manifest themselves much more often in small interactions - a meeting in a small conference room, a discussion over lunch or coffee, even while speaking on the phone.

The fundamental outcome of good communication skills is the ability to articulate, in a clear and compelling way, who you are, what you do, and why it has value. If you can't do this well, you are immediately putting yourself at a sales disadvantage. Furthermore, many agents are too concerned with the end result, closing the deal. As a result, they lose focus on the small things that can make them successful.

I found this out the hard way when, in 1994 I began training for the 2000 U.S. Olympic Sailing Team. To motivate myself, I used to wake up every morning for the first six months and envision what it would feel like to walk up and have the Olympic medal placed around my neck. But then, after finishing poorly in early competition, I began working with a leading sports psychologist. He made me see that, while all that visualization was motivating, it was a complete waste of focus. He told me to put aside visions of medals and to put 100 percent of my efforts into the list of tasks I needed to work on. He called this task-oriented performance enhancement.

I took that approach when I had to raise the funds to finance our boat's effort to qualify for the Olympic team. Instead of being concerned with how much we needed to raise (close to $1 million), I concentrated on the steps needed to get us there. That meant making sure that my request letters were well-written and contained no mistakes. Every single piece of mail was personalized. Every person who donated received a thank you note and a signed holiday card. That was a lot of work, but it paid off when we raised all the funds we needed. We did it all by focusing on the little things. And while we didn't make the Olympic team, we did finish second in the trials (in sailing, only one team can compete in the Olympics). We also won five United States and North American sailing championships.

When you translate the task-oriented performance enhancement approach into a selling model it can make for a very successful business professional. So, instead of being mesmerized by how much you want the sale, put all of your effort into the process that leads there. Then, let the results take care of themselves. While you can't actually control the outcome, you will be more likely to get the sale when you've mastered all of the steps that demonstrate your value to the client.

Credit:
Dean M. Brenner is the founder of The Latimer Group based in Wallingford, Conn. The Latimer Group is a consulting firm that provides executive coaching and group training for businesses with an emphasis on public speaking, sales and presentation skills. Their clients include Fortune companies, entrepreneurs and nonprofits. For more information about the company's specialized approach to persuasive communications, see their website at www.TheLatimerGroup.com or write to Dean Brenner at DMBrenner@TheLatimerGroup.com.

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