Be prepared

What can you do to prepare yourself for success?
It depends on how you define success. If you are talking about a prestigious titles, huge salaries and big houses then I’m not the right person to ask. On the other hand, if you are speaking about developing skills,influence, and personality then here I am.

One should always well prepared before serving in our professional and personal lives. The decisions I have made in my preparation time are the decisions that will last for the entirety of my lifetime. I think the key to speaking well and excellent communication is preparation, so I choose to be well equipped with language, temperament, and influence in order to be valuable. I have studied people from different ages who have different opinions, personalities, and temperaments. I study life with all of its twists and turns and one of the most valuable skills I’ve learned is organising and getting people to work together, preparing for those steps and stages is all part of life.

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Learning by doing

Why is experience in life considered to be the best teacher?
I think experience is one of the best teachers because when you do something you are actually involved in the whole process. And this helps you understand your behaviour and reaction towards a given situation. Learning by doing and teaching by experience can produce higher learning results and have a more lasting effect. Too many people in sales get a little bit of success and get carried away thinking they know it all, and don’t need to practice, study, plan, or review because they think they are already great. Sometimes that’s just the ego, but I think it’s imperative to remain humble. Do you think that happens in any other profession, sport, or activity?

“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”

— Aristotle

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Design your process

As salespersons when we are in front of clients if we don’t have a process, I mean a system of doing things via repetition or preparation, then we will stumble. Remember that your process does not have to be rigid. Have you ever left a meeting and then 10 minutes later you say to yourself, “Why didn’t I say this or that?” This is because when you have had time to relax and you are not under pressure, you can evaluate and reflect on what has been said – and boom, you had a better answer.

There is a huge difference between preparation and repair. Sales is a preparation or prevention profession, and for some reason we are all sitting around trying to repair stuff. Preparation takes a little bit of work, work which we don’t know for sure whether it will pay off or not, so we are really on a loose limb. Alternatively, we can put in a little bit of work and prevent falling into the trap. There is no doubt that you are going to succeed because you already have because you are reading this blog. Contact me via e-mail for an appointment when you are ready to design your process.

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Preparation is key

I think a good salesperson can book a meeting regardless of the product or service. In fact, a good salesperson is not selling the product or service when they ask for a meeting. Instead, the meeting is the product that they’re selling. A good salesperson is selling the value of having a meeting with them. To be effective here, you have to believe that it’s valuable for your potential client to have a meeting with you, regardless of the product or service.

The better prepared you are prior to a negotiation, the more likely it is that the outcome of the negotiation will be satisfactory for both parties involved. Preparation requires that you do two things:

1. Get all the information that you can about the upcoming negotiation.

2. Think the negotiation through from beginning to end, and be fully prepared for any eventuality.

The first kind of information you need is about the product or service and the person with whom you will be negotiating via Linkedin. You obtain this information by choosing good questions to ask that are well thought out. In this sense, information becomes a form of power, and the power is always on the side of the person with the best information.

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