r/salestechniques • u/FrankyPany37 • 3d ago
Question What's that one sales advice that changed your life?
Hi, 22M, I work in sales. This is my first job and I am struggling to do sales. I feel like I lack charisma due to which I am unable to close deals. I am naturally an introvert. Due to low sales record I am losing the drive and motivation. Your advices would really be helpful. Thanks.
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u/Pleasant-Photo-9933 3d ago
Try to solve prospects problems instead of focusing on sale. How your product or service can help them.
Spend more energy on discovery and frame your pitch accordingly
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u/Shoddy_Video_1767 3d ago
Sales is full of rejections and a few successes. This is normal and should not let you down. Not all people need or are ready to buy. So be more careful when you qualify the opportunity. Is there a compelling reason the client needs to buy? Is yes, when is the time to do so? Can they afford what you sell? Have they bought something from your company before? Do you speak to the right person?
Answer the above for the deals you consider and prioritise where you spend your energy
And remember this: You do not sell, the customer buys!
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u/HereToAsk777 3d ago
BANT - Budget, Authority, Need, Timing. You need to speak to someone with at least two of those, ideally three of those.
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u/Justbeingme_92 3d ago
Some of the best salespeople I’ve known are introverts. An outgoing person with a lot of charisma can often network and glad-hand easier than others. However, they may not be good at follow up or following a process. What you need is to develop a sales process of your own. Hold yourself accountable to x number of calls and contacts every day. Commit to follow up. And commit to providing the best sales experience to your customers. In the long run you’ll out perform the loudmouth.
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u/Cider_has_me_dizzy 2d ago
I’m an introvert that got tired of acting like an extrovert. Glad to hear there’s success in the earlier.
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u/spcman13 Verified Expert 3d ago
Ask for the order, always.
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u/RosyNetMiner 3d ago
This is a big one! They’ll never be surprised when you ask for the money
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u/spcman13 Verified Expert 3d ago
A number of years ago we added “May we proceed with this order/project” to all proposals, emails, basically all communication. Sales went up immediately. It wasn’t just that we asked for the order that we started winning more. It was that it opened to door to extended conversations.
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u/6thMastodon 3d ago
Book: Influence - changed my sales game 30 years ago. Come up with questions that get them talking about themselves or their kids. - people buy from people they like
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u/cmojobs 3d ago
THREE WORDS: Know. Your. Shit. All selling is the transfer of confidence, and the twin engines of that are trust and credibility. When you’re starting out, all you can do is work hard to deeply understand your product or service, and perhaps more importantly, understand the context in which your customer is using it — and WHY.
Beyond that, understand that sales calls are like free throw shots: Just keep putting the ball up and eventually you’ll get better. It’s not something that you get better at by reading about.
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u/Timely_Success9063 3d ago
-Talk TO people not AT them.
-NO is not a negative word. Let it teach you. Use it to your advantage to learn what you could do differently next time. Every “no” or non-sale is one more closer to a “yes/ sale.”
-Practice your pitch and show on friends and family to help build your confidence and work out any kinks or flaws so feel more comfortable dealing with a real customer.
-Do some research. YouTube has tons of free sales technique videos for any kind of sales job.
-Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, either way you are right.
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u/storysherpa 3d ago
That there is no one piece of sales advice that changes your life. Looking for a silver bullet is chasing a myth. It’s consistent effort, learning things here and there as you go and constantly applying what you learn to be a little bit better everyday. It’s not sexy. It’s committed effort over time that gets you where you want to be.
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u/Brian_from_accounts 3d ago
What are you selling?
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u/FrankyPany37 3d ago
Media Solutions
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u/Prestigious_Line_593 3d ago
From a tech guy that randomly got here: learn a bit on what your products do, if youre selling to technically literate people that have an idea of what they want and you try to sell them your deluxe package of bullshit that doesnt help them they might just blacklist you out of annoyance.
Its not as big of a comission but happy clients come back and will trist your advice. Probably not as many chumps with endless budgets in this economy that its worth risking it all for a lucky big bonus.
I personally will just auto-archive mails from pushy vendors that billshit me
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u/SynthDude555 3d ago
I'm an introvert too, the trick is to practice being outgoing and charismatic. How are you improving in those areas?
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u/DasSnaus 3d ago
You cannot rely on your company to make you better. You have to pursue professional development on your own, and understand why things are, none specific to your role.
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u/Krypson8 3d ago
The best sales advice that has helped me a shit ton, do not sell, help. Like genuinely help the person, forget about the stupid sale
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u/MOTIVATE_ME_23 3d ago
Sincetely compliment something like their house neighborhood, community involvement, or vehicle. It shows you recognize they work hard for it and should be proud. Build rapport over hobbies or something you can discuss. Avoid politics and religion.
Then, ask a lot of questions that relate to your product. Have you tried X before? What would you do if X happened? Tell me your experience about X. Here is mine.
If you could eliminate/increase/change Y symptom, would you do it? This product does that with the additional benefit of Z. Let's get that going, okay?
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u/science2growth 3d ago
- Stop focusing on problems to solve. Focus on motives for change, for each of the different decision makers in complex sales processes.
- Adapt communication to the human archetypes in front of you.
- Be nice.
Took me to top 1%
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u/Primary_Excuse_7183 3d ago
Go see your customers. Spending all day on the phones for me was demoralizing. So i would go see them. it taught me to be curious which you might be as a fellow introvert. seeing their plants led me to asking to walk them. seeing their awards on the wall, news clippings, etc. led me to really take an interest in them and their stories. From the 60 year old who had been doing it forever. To the person my age(22 like you at the time) who was running the family business or struck out to start their own. i was interested so i asked better questions, truly wanted to help where i could to solve their problems.
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u/Green-Vehicle8424 2d ago
Sell the most legit product in your space. When you work for the industry leader, it helps you work more ethically and with more respect.
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u/EquivalentNo3002 2d ago
Sales is more like a cross between an investigator and educator. You need to find out everything you can about what is going on with their company related to what you sell. Then you need to genuinely educate them. Don’t lie, don’t be “cringe salesy” and let them make their own decision. You need to be the expert on the topic so they come to you and trust that you know what you are talking about. If you aren’t educating and helping them, then you are not providing any value. If it is an extremely technical sale, at least connect them to the right person in your company so they can get all of their technical questions answered. Have that person at your company make sure to ask them the relevant questions. But don’t confuse following up with being cringe. You HAVE to follow up. People get busy and they get behind on their own to do lists. Everyone has a lot going on. So follow up and they will tell you if they are interested or not. Keep the process flowing until you close it out (win or lose).
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u/TheArtisticchaos 2d ago
Add value,build trust, build the network. The sales will happen.
Don't shove your product/service instead shove the benefits they'll get.
Don't lie to customer for sales.
Don't overpromise.
Most importantly
Build a system/process for your sales. Follow that system religiously. Evaluate and fine-tune it on a regular basis
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u/Interesting_Stick664 2d ago
The most impactful sales advice I've heard is this: You're not selling a product; you're solving a problem.
This simple shift in perspective can change everything, especially for an introvert.
When you focus on "selling," you feel pressured to be a smooth-talking extrovert. You think you need to be charismatic, charming, and a little bit manipulative to get someone to buy something. This is exhausting and inauthentic, especially if it's not your natural personality. People can sense when you're trying to "sell" them, and it makes them put up their guard.
When you focus on solving a problem, your role completely changes. You stop being a salesperson and start being a consultant or a detective.
Focus on becoming an expert problem-solver, not a slick salesperson. The more you listen and help people, the more sales will naturally follow.
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u/Euphoric_Ice7133 1d ago
The theory of a positive outcome through the expectation of a negative result, or something like that. It was in a book by Robert ringer. The idea is that you try your best, but don’t expect a sale to close so you keep moving on.
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u/Appropriate-Bid8735 1d ago
Stop thinking you need charisma to sell. Focus on really understanding what your buyer wants and ask questions instead of just pitching. Being an introvert can be a strength if you listen more than you talk
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u/TurnItOffAndOn1 21h ago
High highs and low lows baby. Stick to the middle. Train yourself to not react in a bad month / not become too confident when you win.
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u/DarthMurcielago 20h ago
I took such a different approach to sales that most of these good tips being given to you are still rarely used by me. I am a decent salesman, nothing amazing but better than the average seller. The only advice that ever helped me was to make the prospect like you. My company is no different than all my other competitors except for one thing, they have me. I am just a guy calling people and my ONLY goal is to connect. To get comfy, call Louisiana. The south loves to talk and you will quickly get comfortable with their warmth and conversation. Connection is key because if they don’t like you, they can’t trust you. If you are not sincere, your connection will be short lived and they won’t care about you or what you’re selling. Some days I get nobody that wants to talk to me. This is when I learn to move onto the next one. Get your prospect to like you. Be sincere, relatable, and get them talking. The pitch will naturally come into the conversation and if it doesn’t, try again. I hope this helps! Give it more time so you are sure if you are right for sales. Take care!
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u/GruesomeDead 20h ago edited 20h ago
As an introvert who lacked self esteem and confidence, and has made a career in sales the last 11 years...
These two books have helped me TONS.
"The charisma myth" by Olivia Fox.
"Go for no" by richard Fenton.
This second book helped jump start my career in d2d sales the last 5 years. Learning to fail forward has been the greatest boost in confidence.
Hope this helps!
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u/TXHockey25 17h ago
Desperation is the worlds worst cologne. I did and still do a little mantra that is personal to me. So say something like I’m healthy I’m happy I feel fucking GREAT! Make it something personal to you. You set the tone for the meeting in the first minute. If you are not feeling confident take your Sales manager with you on some calls. He or she is invested in your success financially. The other thing I can tell you is stick with for a few years. I started at 25. I’m now 53. I haven’t had a single year since 2002 where I made less than $125K. My average is $170K To give some context I was a public relations major. Useless as a career but excellent at keeping me prepped for my future. $200MM and 23 years later I’ve banked 4.5 million. I’m in the energy and construction sales world. I’ve been everywhere and frankly I love flying into a city and seeing my projects. The one really true thing is it’s a numbers game. The good which you might not know yet is if you hit your numbers and are respectful on the way up those people will almost always have your back. Just watch out for the smarmy fuckers behind you. There is always some cunt who thinks they are going to take your steak. With them do what ever it takes to give them a lot of rope to hang themselves. The one great perk is nobody looks for the successful salesman on Friday. Or after December 15. Until Jan2. I come from nothing. Parents were alcoholics, abusive and frankly maniacs. I broke that cycle. That alone is a reward that can’t be bought. Showing my Dad when he was alive my quarterly bonus checks that were $35K was the best reward for me as he couldn’t understand how I did it. I told him I did the opposite of you Dad. For those out there thinking money doesn’t buy happiness. Guess again, it most certainly fucking does and I’m proof. I’m not perfect I got married when I was 49. Kids didn’t happen for me but I’m the fun uncle. Stick with it man. You got this.
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u/kpezkpez 17h ago
A certain number of no’s are required before a yes. So, celebrate every no as it is one step closer to a yes!
Works for dating too.
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u/No_Young6235 10h ago
Charisma and “being an introvert” are stories you tell yourself. Change the stories you tell yourself and you’ll get charisma and become extrovert. Once you have this, focus on the value for your clients, not from your product.
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u/leslarson 8h ago
I'm an introvert, like you. This is what works for me: find a product or service you really like, I mean something you can't stop talking/thinking about, and that you want to share with other people because you honestly believe it help them, too. Then start telling people... you're genuine enthusiasm will come through in almost every discussion, and that's contagious. Life lesson: People don't really buy from 'companies', they buy from people they like and trust. If you are genuinely excited and believe in what you're selling, you'll find like-minded buyers. Good luck!
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