A #1 Rule for Salespeople

Here it is: your number one rule. It doesn't involve objections, closing techniques or even reaching the decision maker. It's not about overcoming a fear of rejection. It does, however involve your attitude and approach to sales.

Understand that you will not sell everybody. However you must sell as though you will because you never know who will say "yes".

We can't read people's minds. When we sell, we do our best to uncover needs and concerns. Learn what the customer's hot buttons are - find solutions. But we never really know - we can never really know what another person is thinking. They may have hidden agendas so outside of what we usually encounter that we haven't been able to strategize for them. 

So, keeping that in mind, we need to accept that we will never have a 100% close rate. And that's OK. But here's where many people who sell fail. They don't go far enough in their thought processes. You see, if you can't read people's minds to accurately determine that a "no" may come despite your efforts, it stands to reason that you may not always be able to tell that a "yes" is coming either.

Too many people who sell stop at "Well, you can't sell everybody." The problem becomes when that statement becomes an excuse for not using your best selling skills in all selling situations. 

Recognizing that you won't sell everyone, you still need to approach each sales situation using all your available skills. This has two advantages for you. One, sometimes you never can tell who will say "yes". Two, by using your best skills all the time, you will naturally increase your sales results. When you use all your skills frequently, you become more adept at using them (really you do have to use them or you will lose them).  More Adept = More Sales.

Pay attention to rule #1. Use it to not beat yourself up over a lost opportunity but more importantly use it to ensure that you are always selling at your peak readiness.