How To Sell Better If You’re Not A Salesperson

Most everyone in business would like to know how to sell better. If you don’t perceive yourself as a salesperson, but you still need to sell, it’s that much more important that you arm yourself with tips and tricks to get the job done.

Here we’ll go over several tricks (“hacks, tips) you can use to learn how to sell better, even when you don’t really want to be selling…

A Few Tips On How To Sell Better…

… even when you’d rather be doing almost anything besides selling:

How To Sell Better Tip #1

Realize that you don’t need to be an extrovert to be good at selling.

There is a common misconception that only backslapping, glad-handing people that say hello to everyone they see, can and should be salespeople. That mindset is outdated in a day and age where the world is much more complex and has many more channels for “selling” to prospects. Do these sorts of salespeople still exist? Of course they do. Do you need to take this approach to be effective at selling your products and services? Absolutely not.

How To Sell Better Tip #2

Work with an organization that appreciates different approaches.

If you want to be good at sales, and let’s be serious, everyone who’s an entrepreneur is selling to some degree, work with, or better yet, create an organization that appreciates that all selling doesn’t need to be of the stereotypical used car variety. A great deal of your success in selling as a non-salesperson will be a function of working with a team that appreciates non-salesy selling. If you’re being pushed to be pushy and that’s not what you’re all about, then you’re probably working with the wrong organization (even if you created it).  Change it, or move on.

How To Sell Better Tip #3

Change your definition of selling.

Rather than seeing selling as pushing something on someone who doesn’t want what you have, see it as a combination of education and helping others. Go into it knowing and acknowledging that your product or service may not be for everyone, but commit to using the process of educating your prospect, and educating yourself about the needs of your prospect, to only help those who are in need of what you offer.

How To Sell Better Tip #4

Become a thought leader in your field.

Use blogging and social media to develop a reputation as a thought leader in your field. You will then have people coming to you seeking your expertise, rather than you having to go to them asking for business. Once this dynamic changes, you will be amazed how much easier it becomes to make the sale. In fact, you likely won’t feel as if you’re selling much at all. If you truly become a thought leader, many people will arrive pre-sold.

How To Sell Better Tip #5

Make sure you are selling a product and/or service that you believe in 100%.

If you’re a thinker – and you probably are, or you wouldn’t be reading this to educate yourself – then you need to believe fully in what you’re selling, or it will likely be very obvious to your prospect(s) that even you are not completely sold on what you’re selling. In my experience, it’s hard for cerebral types – thinkers – to fake their enthusiasm for something they don’t believe in.

On the other hand, when thinkers fully believe in what they’re representing, their passion and sense of mission for getting it out there to the world is palpable and contagious.

Do you believe in what you’re selling? Be honest. If not, change it so you do believe in it 100%, or change what you’re selling.

How To Sell Better Tip #6

Put your big boy (or girl) pants on.

Listen, if you don’t perceive yourself as a salesperson, that’s fine, but if you’re going to be effective as an entrepreneur, as already discussed, you’re going to be selling, in one form or another, a good portion of the time. So, suck it up! Stay mission focused. Realize that in order to accomplish your goals and dreams as an entrepreneur, selling is part of the deal! Learn to sell in a way in which you are comfortable and effective. Undoubtedly, particularly in the beginning, you will step out of your comfort zone plenty, but as time goes on, as an intelligent and adaptive entrepreneur you will come up with a selling approach that works for you. Embrace it and continue to grow in the important craft of selling.

How To Sell Better Tip #7

Learn to have fun will all aspects of selling.

Bottom line is that certain aspects of selling are not very pleasant. Being rejected is not something many people wake up in the morning actively seeking out. Over time, though, you can learn not to take yourself, or your prospects, too seriously. It’s highly unlikely that what you’re selling, particularly in a sale to a particular prospect, is life or death. Learn to focus on the big picture of your goals and dreams and rather than letting rejection or “failure” in a particular sale get you down, take it for what it’s worth – a learning opportunity – and move on. If you can learn to enjoy, rather than dread your interactions with prospects and other important constituencies of your business, your life will be that much more pleasant and your effectiveness in selling and beyond will likely reach levels you never thought were attainable.

What other tricks have you used to sell better as a non-salesperson?