A couple of years ago during an interview I was asked the almost inevitable question “Are you an introvert or an extrovert?” to which I responded “neither”.

The interviewer was adamant that I must be one or the other and it made me question why this should be the case.  It seems to be unquestioned wisdom that the best sales people are extroverts and if you are in least bit introverted then there’s no way you’ll be successful in sales.  However, there are lots of reasons why this simply isn’t the case.  For example, I used to work with a man who’s friendly, outgoing, confident, enthusiastic, great at getting along with people, but couldn’t close a sale to save his life for the simple reason that all that enthusiasm meant that he didn’t listen.  Equally, another ex-colleague of mine was quiet and unassuming but his unthreatening nature and methodical way of working meant he was really rather good at sales – the only frustration being that he could have been absolutely amazing if only he would come out of his shell a bit.

So who ARE best at selling?  Ambiverts.

Ambiverts sit somewhere between introversion and extroversion and display personality traits from both.  And it absolutely makes sense that it is this personality type that makes the best sales people as, ultimately, selling isn’t about foisting your personality onto your client.  Successful selling involves listening to and relating to your client, presenting to them a person they would like to deal with and a company they want to engage with.  The best sales people are the ones who adapt their behaviours to the situation in front on them.

So, which personality type are you?

All too often I hear companies say that the thing they absolutely must to do overcome competition is beat them on price.  The logic being that if we’re the cheapest then we’re the ones the customer will choose, right?

Generally speaking, and unless everyone you are competing against is offering a 100% identical product to you, this simply isn’t the case.  People are looking for value as much as they are a good price.  In the public sector most large deals go through a formal procurement process but, even then, price will only make up a certain percentage of the score.   Customers tend to use the MEAT criteria (Most Economically Advantageous Tender) which also takes into account quality.

So instead of making price the thing you must beat them on and the focus of your efforts, why not try highlighting some of the other things that stand you apart instead.  For example:

• Are you greener or more ethical? Is your product/service locally based or locally made.  Equally, is your service UK-wide or international?
• Is your product of a higher quality, built to last, easier to use, safer to use or approved by a respected organisation?
• Are your staff experts in their field, do they come from industry, are they a large, happy and stable team offering fabulous service, do you offer longer more flexible opening hours and online help?

At the end of the day cheapest rarely means best.  Aim to price your product or service at a price-point that truly represents what you offer and then focus your attention on delivering all the added value your customers will love.

Now this is a dangerous phrase because when businesses say this they are often referring the fact that they feel they have a product that does something or has features that perhaps other products don’t have.  And, based on this, they feel no product compares to theirs and, therefore, they have no competition.  But the phrase “we don’t have any competitors” is a dangerous one for three main reasons:

1. That piece of unique functionality that your product has may seem like the most important thing in the world to you but your customers may think differently.

If they don’t see it as a deal breaker then they will look at all the similar products on the market – so you need to be conscious of the fact that you’re also competing with them.

2.  Even if your product or service is completely 100% unique, you are always still competing for budget.

It may be that your customer chooses to spend their budget on something completely different as they consider it more important to them at that moment.  The challenge is finding a way to ensure your potential customers consider what you’re offering as high priority.

3.  The belief that no competitors exist in your market can ultimately lead to complacency.  

If you feel that your product is the best out there then there’s a danger that the needs of the customer will stop being the priority and you’ll fall into the trap of believing that “the product sells itself”.  To successfully sell you must always be asking yourself ‘what’s important to the customer?’ and making sure your value proposition is based on this.

Ultimately knowing your competition is the key to creating a great marketing and sales strategy and, believe me, they definitely exist!

Almost all the companies I’ve worked with conduct email campaigns in one way or another.  It’s a good idea as it is more cost effective than your traditional print and posting methods and, in many ways, is much more likely to be seen by the right person.  However, almost all the companies I’ve worked with have also had the same challenge: how do I make it more effective?

The way in which campaign success is measured varies from company to company but, in general, you are looking for the number of emails opened, click-through rates and the number of enquiries (and subsequent sales) generated as a result.   Campaigns are usually created by designing an email containing content you think will appeal to the recipient, getting your hands on a target list of contacts and sending the mailshot out to everyone on the list.   The simple idea to make email campaigns more effective?  Don’t press Send to All.

As with all messaging, while you have spent time carefully crafting the content of the email, the best way to tell if resonates with your target audience is to test it.  So instead of sending it to everyone, try 50 contacts first and see what happens.  If you get nothing back, go back to the drawing board.  If they’re opening it but not enquiring, have another look and see if you can change the content to encourage them to click through.  Then try another 50 and see what happens.  When you start to get a result then you know it’s time to press Send to All – you’ll be pleased you took the time to test your message first.

No matter what the question or situation my 4-year old niece will always, always ask “why?”  And she asks this because she genuinely wants to understand what’s going on, what is the reason behind it.  As grown-ups we become experienced in our field and come to know our customers and competitors well and, as a result, we stop asking why because we feel we know the answer – and to be fair there’s a good chance we do know the answer.  But the point at which you stop asking “why?” is the point when you start becoming a less effective sales person for two reasons:

1. Things change; you may be able to able to make a fairly good guess at what’s important to your client right now but never assume – you don’t know what’s around the corner for them so you should ask.
2. You may stop asking “why?” because your experience tells you the answer, but asking questions is so important as it shows your clients you are interested in understanding their specific needs. They may be different or similar to everyone else, but you need to take the time to let them explain what’s important.

So try it, keep asking “why?”  I’m not suggesting doing it in the manner my 4-year old niece does (e.g. relentlessly, and often accompanied by tantrums) but I would certainly be sure to ask the question as you’ll be surprised by the results – especially when you’re the only person to have taken the time to ask.

The product sells itself.  How many times have you been told this, or heard it from a manager, or even thought it yourself of the product you’ve created?  In saying this, the thinking is that the product is simply so good that once the customer sees how it works they will definitely buy it.

This is a dangerous phrase for two reasons.  Firstly, no matter how good your product is, if you as a business don’t spend the necessary time engaging with your clients and understanding what’s important to them they won’t even look at your product.  Secondly, even if your potential customer does spend some time looking at your product, they’re not going to buy it based on how it works, they’re going to make a buying decision based on what it does for them.  For example, people and businesses don’t choose to buy a piece of software based on how the buttons work, they buy it based on the fact that it improves outcomes, save time, or simplifies a difficult task.  The product doesn’t sell itself – it’s the business that sells the outcomes that using that product can achieve.

Sales strategy should not be about describing how the product works, but about communicating the value proposition – how the product is going to help your client – and you’ll find that getting this right will open the door to far more sales opportunities than a simple product overview.

Is your To Do list off the scale? Is Covid making you feel even more overwhelmed than usual? Here’s how to break your list down and get it done.

What does your To Do list look like?  Does it fit on one page?  Does it span a few pages covered in scribbled notes and updates?  How many things ever actually get crossed out?

For many people their To Do list has become a form of torture.  Either too unruly to ever make sense of or too unwieldy to complete in a day – or even a week.  When you run your own business you’re always focusing on the next thing you should do to try and grow, the next place you should be to win new business.  And that To Do list continues to grow with no end in sight – sadly you usually end up being less productive as a result.

So how do you ever complete it?  Here’s my top 3 tips for getting things done and throwing that list in the bin.

1. How many points on your list are Tasks and how many are Objectives?

It’s not unusual to see To Do lists which include the relatively small and mundane (e.g. log July expense receipts) next to the wide-reaching strategic stuff (e.g. set up social media presence).  You feel you need to do both to keep your business running but one is a task and one is a much larger piece of work.  It’s a good idea to go through your list and divide everything up into Tasks and Objectives as it will help you better understand what to do next.

2. How can you get the Tasks done quickly?

With each of the tasks you’ve identified, now think about what the timescales are for these.  If you’re aiming to have your July receipts logged by the end of the month then use your calendar and schedule in an hour to get this done.  If you want to get a newsletter out to your customers by the 15^th of the month then schedule time to write and send it on the 13^th or 14^th.  By moving these tasks into your calendar you’re making sure you allow time to actually get them done and you’re also moving them away from the never-ending To Do list which will allow you to focus on the bigger, strategic tasks that will help grow your business.

If you’re too busy to be able to schedule the time for tasks it’s a good idea to see what you can ask someone else to help you with.  Virtual Assistants can provide valuable business and operational support and can free you up to concentrate on what’s important.

3. What are your priority Objectives?

Once you’ve moved all the Tasks away into your calendar or have enlisted extra support to get these done, it’s time to look at the remaining objectives and prioritise them based on what’s most important to your business.  Again, be ruthless – if there are things on the list that don’t necessarily suit your skillset and you know you could get some help with which means they’d be actioned quickly and more effectively then look for outside support.

Identify your top 3 most important objectives based on: how will it benefit my business, what are the consequences if I don’t do this, and will it take me away from my main goal of running a successful business.  Have you been meaning to set up a blog but have never gotten around to it?  Set an objective to create and share a great blog post today.  Have you reached out to any potential clients this week to see if they’d like to chat?  Make it an objective to contact 10 prospects this week.

Make your top 3 objectives your ONLY objectives for the day/week and focus on them 100%.