Which is More Important When it Comes to Selling?
Posted by: Cheryl Clausen in sales coaching, tags: increasing sales, sales coaching, sales skillsIn the last post we talked about attitudes. I pointed out that rather than trying to change your attitudes, which are simply the way you look at things based on your values, you are better served accepting your attitudes and using those attitudes to motivate the actions that produce results. There is nothing wrong with you, or the way you think. You are uniquely positioned to fulfill your dreams.
There are four core aspects involved in your ability to sell. Attitudes is one of those aspects. The other aspects include: knowledge, skills, and habits.
Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills, Habits
Most people think knowledge is the most important when it comes to sales. Knowledge involves both knowing your product or service, and knowing what to do to produce the sales results you want. Far too many people waste precious time and miss tremendous opportunities because they think they have to know every gory detail about their product or service.
You could sell all the products and services you want knowing little more than a bare minimum about the details of your product or service. This is true because your prospects don’t care what your product or service is. Your prospects only care about what your product or service does that’s important to them.
“Knowing” what to do to sell couldn’t be simpler. All you have to do to sell your product or service is:
- get in front of people interested in what you can do for them
- set appointments with those people
- help those people make a good buying decision
- maintain your relationship
- earn referrals
There are literally thousands of books on selling. You could pick any one and “know” what you need to know to sell, for the most part. However; there’s a BIG difference between knowing what to do, and knowing “how” to do it.
Skill > Knowledge
That’s why skill is much more important that knowledge. Skill is knowing how to do what you know you need to do. Skill is where the disconnect happens.
Most people find it very difficult to read, hear, or watch someone else doing what they know they need to do, and then TRANSLATING that knowledge into their own skill set. Skill involves:
- taking a concept and applying that concept specifically to your needs
- adapting words and actions to fit with your attitudes
- confidence gained through successful repetition
In sports there are lots of players who know the rules, know how the game is played, and know what they are supposed to do. Most players never get beyond an average skill level when it comes to implementing their knowledge of the sport. The very best players develop superior skills not because they have greater knowledge.
The very best players develop superior skills because they work closely with a coach who is able to help them achieve greater skill levels than they ever could on their own. The coach sees the players blind spots, they help the player build on their strengths and work around their weaknesses. The coach serves as their rapid translator and skill refiner. Players who work individually with a coach develop superior skills faster than those who don’t.
Coach Cheryl
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