How to master the art of selling in three easy steps and instantly boost your career

DAMIEN Bullard could have gone to medical school after graduating, but chose to become a care salesman instead. Here’s why he made the right choice.

How to master the art of selling

BELIEVE it or not, I graduated with the full expectation of going to medical school, but instead traded that opportunity to become a car salesman. A questionable choice, looking from the outside in, but one that I hope will help you gain some new perspective on sales by the time you’re done reading this.

I believe that today, more than ever, every person should learn to become a great salesperson, even if you never plan to be in a position that will require you to sell.

No matter what field you work in, what education you seek, at some point or another, you will be directly exposed to the importance of selling.

Selling is part of everything we do. In many cases, even when we don’t think about it, we are still selling through our basic day-to-day routines. Let me give you some clear and simple examples.

When you talk your friends into doing something, you are selling them your idea. When you are telling your parents about your day or week, you are selling them. Even when you are choosing between two alternatives for yourself, each with a different cost, you are selling.

The idea of selling is universal and just about all of us sell constantly. The only question is who we sell to, not whether we sell or not. This is why selling is key, no matter what your educational or long-term goals are.

Regardless if you choose a science degree or decide to become an entrepreneur, better selling skills mean that you will be able to achieve your goals faster, and face fewer closed doors, as you continue your journey forward.

So what should you know about selling and how can you become better at it? Understanding these three core fundamentals will be a great start.

1) SELLING IS ABOUT ACQUIRING TRUST WITH VERY FEW WORDS

No one likes to be sold to, but everyone loves to buy. These are words that should stick with you, especially when thinking about how to build trust in order to be able to sell successfully. People want to buy and all they need is a great reason to do so. In most cases, that reason is trust.

Trust plays two roles in sales. One is highly focused on the trust surrounding the idea that the product or service will be a solution to the buyer’s problem. The other is that the person or company it’s coming from is providing the buyer great value.

Value is different than price. People want to know that they are getting their money’s worth rather than saving a few bucks. Building trust comes from consistency and familiarity. Most people buy Apple products and never question the quality, despite the price, partly because, over time, Apple has been consistent in creating computers that don’t break as often as others and exceed expectations in that arena.

2) SELLING IS ABOUT INNER CONFIDENCE

If you don’t believe, you can’t convince. The idea of sales is that the person selling must hold a higher level of confidence towards what is being sold than you. If the person seems disconnected or not 100% confident in the value they will create for you, you tend to want to do more research before committing.

Think of it as you approaching someone and trying to convince them to be your lab partner. If you do so in a passive way, you are more likely to evoke doubt. On the other hand, if you come into the situation very aggressively, most people will assume that your confidence means you know something they don’t and, therefore, they will tend to ride along, even if they are not clear as to why.

3) SELLING A STORY IS MORE POWERFUL THAN SELLING A PRODUCT

Remember that people can buy a product and service from many different sources and it is very rare for someone to have an idea so unique that they are the only ones selling it. While most people these days no longer relate to products on an emotional level, they relate to the people behind the products or services, as well as their stories. Having a great story as to why it is key that your product be bought is very helpful to succeeding in sales.

People buy from people and the more they can relate, the faster they buy. If you are selling a vacuum, don’t focus on the product and features. Instead, I urge you to focus first on why you are selling vacuums and then focus on the product. This human connection is the key many salespeople forget about or never hit on.

When I left school to become a car salesman, I didn’t do it with the intention of remaining in car sales my whole life, but rather because I understood that one fundamental piece of success is directly related to our ability to sell ourselves and others. Therefore, it only made sense that I chose to practice this belief in the hardest and most competitive of environments early on.

This transition enabled me to understand how to sell, but also why people buy, which became an essential part of my growth as I launched three businesses that quickly scaled to seven figures, strictly based upon my ability to sell.

While no one becomes a pro in sales without having built experience actually selling things, everyone can benefit by understanding these three fundamental laws of selling and how important they are in furthering your growth as a student, individual, or in business.

Damien Bullard is the founder of IDDS Consulting Group

This article originally appeared on AskMen and was republished with permission.

Originally published as How to master the art of selling in three easy steps and instantly boost your career