Seven Sales Skills You've Got to Have

The Art of Business: Seven Sales Skills You've Got to Have
Are your creative skills top-notch but your bottom line suffering? Here's how to convert prospects into paying clients.

(creativepro.com)
By Eric J. Adams, creativepro.com contributing editor
Wednesday, August 3, 2005

Few creative professionals are thrilled with the idea of sales, but needless to say, a little salesmanship from time to time makes the world go round. Consequently, every creative professional should learn the seven basic skills of sales, as outlined by Shamus Brown, sales consultant and creator of the Persuasive Selling Skills sales training course.

Here are Brown's pointers, reconfigured for the selling of creative services.

1. Learn how to qualify. You can't make a deal with someone who isn't in a position to make a decision, has no money to pay you, or needs different services than those you provide. It sounds simple, but many creative pros waste a lot of time chasing prospects before (and sometimes after) it's determined the prospects don't meet all three of the above criteria. Even before you pick up the phone, develop a list of qualifying criteria that prospects must meet before you invest your time with them. If you're not sure, don't be afraid to sprinkle your conversation with questions such as, "Are you the main decision maker?" and "Have funds been set aside for this project?"
2. Learn how to inspire. Creative professionals are like guitar players… they're a dime a dozen. Any good prospect will interview three to four creative firms before making a selection, particularly if they're looking for a long-term creative partner. Brown suggests you imagine that the prospect has a big "SO WHAT?" stamped on his or her forehead, and imagine that for everything you say, the prospect replies, "So what, why should I care?" Prospects care about solving their problems or how you can help make their business better. You'll stand out if you emphasize the benefits you can offer.

   Here's the golden key to inspiration: Prospects become motivated to work with you when you help them discover that you can solve their problem better than anyone else can. That means you have to prove to every client two things. No matter how brilliant you are, it's doubtful you'll get hired unless prospects feel like you understand the predicament they face. So first (and the sequence is important here), you must understand their problems and needs and convey that information back to them. Plan and ask questions to uncover and highlight those problems. Once you do that, then you can impress them with examples of your talent and creativity as it relates to their problems or challenges.

3. Learn to sell outside your comfort zone. It's important to speak your prospect's language even if it's not native to you. If your prospect is an analytical type, stay away from sweeping generalizations and back up your statements with statistics and proof. For many creative professionals, simply dealing with an authority figure can be uncomfortable. If that's the case, acknowledge the discomfort to yourself and consciously force yourself to speak as one professional to another. Rapport is the goal.
4. Learn to love voice mail. When prospecting, you can regard voicemail as your friend or your enemy. With 70% of your prospecting calls going to voicemail, it's time to make friends with it. Although you'll never get every voicemail returned, you can get a significant number of messages returned if you treat them as one-on-one commercials, says Brown. Prepare three to five separate benefit-focused voicemail messages that you can leave over a period of days or weeks for a single decision-maker before you give up. Each message should focus on a single customer-focused benefit. That way it seems like you're having a conversation, even if it's a bit one-sided at first.
5. Learn to be a great storyteller. It's ironic that in our digitized, wired world, the best persuasion is a great story. You can support the story with slides or a portfolio, but it's the drama in the story that will do the selling. Stories rich in descriptive detail let prospects picture themselves using your product and evoke that "I Gotta Have That" reaction, according to Brown. Study a few of your best customers and develop detailed customer success stories that will put emotional power into your presentations. Dramatize how you saved the day. Think Hollywood.
6. Learn the power of incremental commitments. When people imagine sales success, they often think of one big "YES!" But a complex sale is more often won on a series of many small "yes"s. "Can we set up an appointment?" "Can we talk about your needs?" "Can I work up a few rough ideas?" "Can I create a formal presentation?" "Can we get started?" By the time you get to this last question, the prospect has said "yes" several times, so it's much easier to say the important "yes" of all.
7. Learn to love the process. It's asking a lot, I know, but when you enjoy what you do, success seems to follow. Instead of rebelling against the selling process, see it as part of the creative communications process that ends with your finished work. If it helps to take the pressure off, focus instead on qualifying and motivating your prospects and don't even think about the signature on the contract.

The Power of Ps
There are hundreds of books on sales and sales strategy, and if you're game, they're worth a look. But selling is not rocket science: focus on the prospect's problems, and be patient, professional, positive, and -- above all -- persistent.

Read more by Eric J. Adams.

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