Sales Bible: 10 Truths For More Effective Selling Best-selling author and professional speaker Jeffrey Gitomer, who’s written such titles as The Little Red Book of Selling and The Sales Bible, spoke recently at Synnex’s Varnex 2014 conference and offered solution providers several tips on how to improve their sales approach and close deals more effectively. Here are a few of Gitomer's most salient points: 1. The First Sale That's Made Is Not About The Product It's about the salesperson, Gitomer said. A salesperson has to sell themselves to the customer and establish some kind of connection or ties to the client. If you don't sell yourself effectively, he said, then it doesn't matter how good the product or service your selling is – you're not making the sale. 2. People Don't Like To Be Sold, But They Love To Buy You have to tap into that desire without getting in the way, Gitomer said. A great example of salespeople getting in the way of the sale are car dealerships, he said. People want an easy way to buy a car, Gitomer said, but car dealerships are trying to outlaw direct sales for automobiles. "They're trying to block Tesla because they want to sell cars online," he said. "Every car salesperson will lose their job in an hour. That job is over, history." 3. People Buy For Their Reasons, Not Your Reasons “Find out what their reasons are first,” Gitomer said. “And sell them on that.” Just because they’re important to you does not mean you’re important to them, Gitomer said. Salespeople don't spend nearly enough time trying to learn about their prospective clients and find out what their motivations are. Use those reasons to sell them rather than focusing too much on the product or service you're trying to pitch. 4. Delete These Words From Salespeople’s Lexicon “I’m waiting for a call back.” These words are a big no-no for salespeople, Gitomer said. Never wait for a call back. “Seriously?" Gitomer said. "What are you waiting for? Call them up on the phone again.” 5. Embrace Social Media Gitomer is a big believer in social media and encouraged solution providers to embrace tools and platforms like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other social networking avenues. "It's free!" he told the audience. Plus, Gitomer said social media is the new reality. If you want your business to be found, he said, you need to put your company out there. Otherwise, all that's left is the Yellow Pages. 6. Rip Up Your Business Card Why, you ask? Because according to Gitomer, it most likely stinks. Your business card is probably boring and looks like everyone else's. So how does that differentiate you from others? It doesn't. "Your business card should be a conversation starter," he said. As an example, Gitomer displayed his own card – which was modeled after a baseball card and showed Gitomer in a Philadelphia Phillies uniform. That card, he said, is a conversation starter because it stands out and tells people where he's from and what his passion is. 7. If They Like You, Then They May Buy From You Gitomer said it’s important for customers to believe, trust, and have confidence in the salesperson with which they’re dealing. But above all else, it’s crucial that the customers like the salesperson. He compared client engagements to a first date, arguing that it doesn’t matter if a girl trusts or believes you if they already don’t like you. “If they don’t like you, then you’re out,” Gitomer said. 8. Don't Use Price As A Differentiator Pricing can be matched, but service level is what distinguishes your company from the rest, Gitomer said. "It’s relationships, it’s value, and it’s loyalty. That’s the new way," he said. "[If I’m a customer] if I don’t perceive a value and I don’t perceive a difference, then all that’s left is your price. And that’s really easy to compare." 9. Preach Profits, Not Savings Too often companies try to make a sale by telling the customers their products or services will save them money. “If you own your own business, do you want to save money or do you want to make a profit?” Gitomer asked. “You want to make a profit. So why are your salespeople calling me and telling me I can save money?” Lowest price means lowest profit, he said. Focus on helping clients grow their business instead of just cutting costs. 10. Guard Your Most Valuable Asset Gitomer said as a business owner, your more valuable asset is time. “You can make more money,” he said, “but you can’t make more time.” Manage your time better, but don’t take time management courses, he said. Instead, split your day into 32 or so half-hour segments that you can allocate to different things. “And if you allocate each of the segments to something, then you’re going to double your productivity,” Gitomer said. “Just don’t allocate them to television.”
