I trust you enjoyed my last article “Youth India”.
Today’s article is all about “How to sell yourself”. The idea I derived to write this article is from book “How to sell yourself”, written by “Joe Girad “ and “Robert Casemore”. No matter what field you are in, you need to market yourself. And nobody knows sales like Joe Girard. I just tried to summarize some chapters from the book. But I am sure enough; this article will help you to create your different identity.
Just spare 5-10 minutes of your time to read this and spare same time in the entire week to follow them if it appeals to you. I am sure it will invoke you to create your different identity. You may circulate it further to your associates, peers and friends.
Sell your self
You are at home, enjoying your Holiday, and at that time someone knocked on your door, knock ...knock. Excuse me, Sir....I am Mr. Rahul from ABC company. I just need your 2 minutes. Now, what will be your reaction? Dhooom......you will close your door or will say, we don’t have any requirement. Generally, we hate salespeople and also hate to choose “Sales” as a career. Because since our childhood, it is intensely bombarded in our mind that doctors, engineers, IAS officers, teachers are the best fields. None of them will motivate you to make a career in sales. Whenever a salesperson approaches on our door we are very well aware what our reactions are! So, no one ever thinks to make his/her career in sales.
It’s a brutal fact that though we are not in sales then also, since our childhood we are doing sales. Let’s see some examples.
The kid who is trying to talk to his mother into letting him stay up an extra hour to watch cartoon is selling.
A wife who hints she’d rather see a serial than Cricket match is selling.
A boy who proposes a beautiful girl is selling. That is a secondary part that when he received an answer from her brother who used his hand so freely that it hurt in all the wrong places! That’s sales rejection.
Anybody who has ever asked the boss for a rise is selling.
Whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever you do and wherever you do it, you’re doing sales. You may not have been aware of this, but it’s true.
We presume that life of a salesperson is difficult. Processes of sales are tiresome which tests our patience, communication skills, and temper. Just enjoy the process of sales and see the transformation in you. The life of a Salesperson and Lover share lot of similarities. Each and every day what they are thinking “Closing”. For one is “Sales Closing” and for other “Closing” means “Marriage”. So, let’s see one poem which describes lover’s psychology and from poem try to understand the life of salesmen.
આટલો વૈભવ વિલાસ હશે તો ચાલશે,
બે ઘડી નો લવ હશે તો ચાલશે.
જોઈએ છે કન્યા નથી ગુણ ની જરૂર,
જીવતું તાંડવઃ હશે તો ચાલશે.
સાસુ જોઈ એ દેવી સરીખા જેવી
સસરો દાનવ હશે તો ચાલશે.
નથી જોઈએ એક પણ સાલો,
સાલી દસ બાર હશે તો પણ ચાલશે.
બસ પરણવું છે હવે,
રોજ નો વિપ્લવ હશે તો ચાલશે.
When we are in love at that time we all know we are on the 7th cloud and want to marry at earliest. But due to lack of knowledge, interest, and efforts, we face rejections and de-motivation. Friends, I being in sales can help in some way to reach the mountain peak. According to me, many people lose hope in the midway due to their “habits”. Yes, the habit of skipping some crucial steps of this journey! Crucial steps are those qualities that will sustain you in this long but exciting journey of sales. So, let’s see some steps which are unknowingly skipped by us during sales.
Motivate yourself: When you are in Love and if it is one sided then what do we do. Each and every day we groom in front of the mirror and make self-conversation with our selves like “You don’t have any right to look so beautiful/ handsome”. Today you have to propose him/her. This way we try to motivate our selves. Now see the other side of the coin i.e., in sales. After getting a rejection from the client what is our situation. On one side our colleague is doing exceptionally well and we are not. In evening our immediate superior or boss will call us. As usual, we will not receive the same. After that we will receive messages from immediate superior or boss regarding closing status, receiving some good messages with beautiful thoughts and wisdom from immediate superiors for not performing sales.
Now, what to do.
- Tape a 3 X 5 card with I AM NUMBER ONE printed on it to your bathroom mirror, where you can see it first thing every morning. Read it and smile.
- Keep a similar card in your office or desk or soft copy on your mobile and PC’s desktop.
- Repeat this statement 10 times every morning upon arising; I am my own best salesperson.
- Repeat this statement 10 times every night before going to bed. I AM THE NUMBER ONE PERSON IN MY LIFE.
- Put negative thoughts – envy, jealousy, greed, hate – out of your life.
- Give yourself a pat on the back at least once every day.
- In your friend circle, you need to keep one Jambvan. Jambvan is one of the characters present in Ramayan who inspired Shree Hanuman to fly. And the rest is history. In the same way, we also require one Jambvan in our life who will light the fire of faith in ourselves when it gets dimmed. Bottom of the line is to have faith in yourself, and believe that you are the greatest and you are the champion. This practice will give you a self-kick and live a life to complete our dream.
Create your own personality:
What we will do when we are going to meet 1st time with our girlfriend or boyfriend or fiancé. First and foremost on that day,
- We will take proper shower or bath and it's possible that we may spare some more time to look better and feel better.Take care of your hair & Use makeup sparingly if you’re woman.
- Shave as often as necessary if you’re man.
- Manicure your nails regularly if you’re woman.
- Keep nails clean and trimmed if you’re man.
- Keep physically trim.
- Check your posture
Imagine, this is the level of consciousness when we are on a date. Now what we will do when we are going to meeting with a client. Are we really taking care of all points? Will you be liked by your spouse if you happen to miss the above points? Then how can you expect that you will be appealing to the client? We are suggesting some products which will cost him from Rs.1 to Lacs or Crores. So, our personality should in sync with the same. Meet your client as if you are going to meet your girlfriend/ boyfriend but dress up in a professional way. While dressing up, please consider the following points:
- Buy the best cloth you can afford.
- Dress as per occasion (your daily meeting, business meeting and for the business seminar).
- Have your clothes cleaned and pressed regularly.
- Choose accessories that complement, not distract.
- Match your shoes to your attire.
- Take care of your footwear.
In short, do everything you can make yourself the most buyable package possible. As a final test ask yourself this question: “WOULD I BUY ME?”
Preparation requires: In cricket, it is saying that if you want to win matches then you should have good fielding attack. Same is applicable to sales and love also. When we are in love, at that time our fielding is so tight. We are very well aware of his/her tuition class time, school time, and many more. During that time we will plan when to introduce our self. We are doing lots of research before introducing our selves. Similarly just think is there any preparation to be done by our side before client meeting? For an introduction to our girlfriend, we try effortlessly and sometimes succeed also. In the same way before sales meeting, we can search on facebook, website, twitter regarding his professional visit, his behavior and achievements and try to connect the dots during our discussion.
Sell solution instead of product: Generally no one likes rejection. It has been observed that whenever we try to push something at that time there are possibilities to face rejection. If we try to push our thoughts to our girlfriend then she will also say that “Thank you so much” Please don’t meet again. If this is the reaction of our girlfriend then what about our customer?
Just think if Salesman offers you, Sir please buys this toothpaste. It will make your teeth stronger and also has good aroma but after using it your teeth turns black. Then we will not buy because we are not purchasing a product, we are purchasing some solution for our teeth which give us good mouth taste, fresh breathe and stronger white teeth. So, try to sell the solution.
Opportunity to make a hero: I want to ask you one question, who is the hero? A person whose statue we can see in our city. We are very well aware that generally, birds are using those statues. Or hero means a person whose photos are printed in newspaper and magazine. We also aware that next days that newspaper we found at Shop for packing material. Who is the hero?
It has been said that after our death god will ask, what did you do in your entire life? Did you enjoy your life? Or you just came as you were! You can’t say like, yes I enjoyed because I did one murder, 1 robbery, but on 2nd attempt, I didn’t get success and so I am here. Reason being next question goes this way, ”did anybody experience happiness because of you?”
Sales is the field where you have the opportunity to emerge as a hero. In this field, you have healthy relationship with your clients where he is discussing his professional and personal life’s problems with you. Because he knows that you are the person who made his life easier and better through products or services. So, enjoy each and every minute in this field and live your life as hero because a true hero is neither pasted in magazines nor moulded into statues but a hero is a king who is worshipped by his men as god. Remember you are a true sales man only when your customers respect your opinion and trust your assurance. This trust will enable him to buy your product.
Communication skills:
When you are in Love, there are drastic changes in your communication style. We will often use “my sona”, “my baccha” and many more. Same is also applicable in sales. Whenever you are in front of client at that time also you should be soft spoken while speaking. First and foremost listen to your customer carefully and then share your points instead of interrupting.
Finally concluding my article, remember one thing in life,
Our last performance is important instead of past performance. Forget about what you did. Remember only one thing what you are doing and what you will do. People who always remember his past will ultimately walk on the footsteps of Rajesh Khanna and one who is focused on his last performance eventually becomes the hero forever-Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. If you were lucky enough to spend your teenage in the late 80’s and 90’s you will be aware how the grand arrival of Big B tossed the stardom and fame of the first ever superstar Rajesh Khanna. Even today whether it be miss universe or very own son of big B, Amitabh Bachchan still has an upper hand over films, acting and many more.
This is the truth of the life.
Whenever we remember Mr. Amitabh Bachchan we never forget to revere one of the legendary people i.e., his father Mr. Harivanshrai Bachchan. So, friends, this article is nothing but an opportunity to have a glance at the admirable composition of Late Mr. Harivanshrai Bachchan.
