This book is packed full of information on honing your leadership skills, understanding leadership styles, and creating an amazing experience for our customers. A great read for entrepreneurs, business owners, and sales professionals alike!
Here are some of our favorite takeaways that we believe are extremely applicable to sales professionals and business owners focused on growth.
Sales folks don’t skip over the leadership styles chapters! Understanding leadership styles is key to selling. Read it with the perspective of putting yourself in your decision-maker's shoes. It will help you understand their buying process, tailor your messaging to their needs and provide the right decision-making data to your customers. “When you hear the customer is always right…It is true, but not how you think. This phrase means the customer always has the right to feel how they feel.” It’s so important to create a community and provide opportunities for customers to provide candid feedback.
As sales professionals, it’s our job to listen to understand, create a space where our clients feel valued and heard, and engage the right resources to create an agreeable solution quickly and effectively. “Being vulnerable is a part of being genuine, and it can help you form stronger bonds with others.”
This goes hand in hand with our belief that knowing your unique WHY when selling and connecting it with your business is key to building successful long-term relationships with our clients.
Get started! “We’ll never get anything done waiting for ideal conditions, so we might as well start working on them now."
Sometimes, we, sales professionals can get bogged down in research and trying to learn all about a potential client before we even meet them. Let’s use this as a reminder, we don’t have to know everything before the first meeting. We should of course learn about a new prospect’s company, take a look on LinkedIn to learn a bit about the folks we are meeting, AND prepare thoughtful questions to gain a deeper understanding of goals and initiatives during the meeting.
The 3 Communication “E: Skills you must possess:
“Make your customers feel like they are the only one.” Be sure to show your customers they are appreciated.
At RB Consulting, a handwritten thank you note, a personal message on social media celebrating a work anniversary, company achievement/honor, or a call or coffee just to catch up are some of our favorite ways to show our appreciation to our customers. We also love to ask our customers how we can support their growth goals. Often we can connect them with a professional or community group to be on a panel, suggest an event for them to attend or share content and engage with our customers and their business on social platforms to help spread the word to new potential clients for our customers.
“Being self-assured is the nectar that brings bees to a flower; it attracts others to its bearer." Confidence is always KEY! Feel it, look it, know it.
Connections matter. “Be a collaborator.”
We talk about partnerships quite a bit in our sales cohorts. One of our favorite ways to collaborate, we call, “Eyes and Ears Partnerships.” These are informal partnerships with other professionals who likely work with or meet your ideal clients through their regular work and community engagement activities. And vice versa we often meet and engage with potential customers for them.
For example, when our CEO Rebecca meets a business owner interested in better understanding their clients using KPIs and surveys to enhance their customers’ experience we automatically think of Jennica and S.E.A. Leaders, and her book. We offer to make an introduction and recommend her book.
Likewise, when Jennica meets a professional looking to level up their sales skills or revamp their company’s sales strategy, she recommends checking out RB Consulting. We both share news and upcoming events for one another’s companies with our communities. As a new business this year, our goal is to create 200 “Eyes and Ears Partnerships.”
“As lifelong learners, we should always be pushing ourselves to expand our knowledge and acquire new abilities.”
If business development and sales are on your list of skills to continue to expand and acquire new abilities we’d love for you to join one of our upcoming Sales Cohorts. We have virtual and hybrid options to best meet your scheduling needs. Registration is simple! We have payment plan options too! If you are a Boss Babe Network or Startup Ladies Member, we have a BIG discount for you! DM us or send us an email at info@rbormannconsulting.com for the CODE.
UPCOMING SALES COHORTS
COHORT 2: Virtual
Days: Tuesdays from March 14th - May 30th
Times: Noon TO 1:15 pm
COHORT 3: Hybrid
Days: Tuesdays from April 11th - June 27th
Times: Every other Tuesday 7-8:30 pm in person; Opposite Tuesdays 7-8 pm via ZOOM
Location: CoHatch Broad Ripple
6151 Central Ave. Indianapolis, IN 46220
