Three "Never" Fundamentals of Being a Powerful Sales Person

There’s much debate about whether a salesperson is built or born. In a study conducted by the Harvard business review shows us that, sales people are born rather than created.

Personally, I believe different. I believe that an effective salesperson is created through his or her choice. The road will be difficult but here are the best tips I can give you to help you get there.

1. Never Be Afraid to Fail

One of the biggest mistakes that can be made by a new or experienced sales people is the fact that they are not willing to fail.

Failing is tough for a salesperson because through handling constant rejection you have to create a glimmer of hope for yourself. Often salespeople overstep the amount of hope that they put into the potential sale and when it doesn't come through, they feel deflated.

Going through 100’s of leads, either through cold calling or from selling door to door, (yes it even happens in Dubai) can be exhausting and sales people more often than not look at the sale as their glimmer of hope to give them the confidence to keep going.

So what happens when that glimmer of hope doesn't come through?bIt’s here where most people stop. It’s here that most people call it quits and decide that there's no point moving forward.bIn my eyes failing only marks the beginning of any given activity, because in truth it's not a failure, it's only your first hurdle…

I have seen that the best sales people don’t see any encounter as a failure, in fact, they see them as their first hurdle or learning experiences.

“If Howard Shultz gave up after being turned down by banks 242 times, there would be no Starbucks” Neil Patel.

Some of the best sales come only after many rejections, in fact some of the most loyal customers come in this way because they see that your not just another sales person, instead you will show your prospect or potential client that you care about their business and when you show another person that their not just another prospect and that their not just another mark on the scoreboard, that is when things will begin to fall into place.

2. Never Stop Learning

The greatest salespeople are constantly learning. Whether that be about how to speak to people in a different manner, or how to dress more effectively or even how to think in a more positive way.

They learn these things at seminars, through books and even, by meditating.If you feel that you're not absorbing the information at seminars and training programs you must learn how to learn. Learning to learn can be easy if you have a schedule. set a time for yourself and stick to it.

With time, you will be able to increase the amount of time you spend reading and learning. This can take weeks or it could take months. Rome wasn't built in a day so if you're committed to this then you will get to a point when you can read and learn for as long as you want to rather than how long your concentration or your focus allows you to.

Once you have done this, a whole wealth of knowledge opens up. You can then read great books like Robert Caldini’s Influence: Psychology of Persuasion, or 7 habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey and Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

Books and seminars will give you the knowledge of people who have gone out, experimented, failed, learned from their mistakes and then succeeded.

If attending seminars seem like a costly affair then books are the best way to learn new skills, habits, and mindsets. If you don't know what book to buy, check out any of the blogs below.

• 15 self-help books everyone needs to read.
• Top 10 sales books of all time.
• 23 reads that give sales people all the answers.

Now you have no excuse left but to tackle your new journey of learning head on and with passion. The knowledge that experienced people have is priceless when it comes to being a sales person.

3. Never Give Up

The most difficult part of being a sales person is a continued belief in optimism.

“He who says he can and he who says he can’t are both usually right” Confucius.

If you believe that you will be able to, make one more phone call then you will. If you believe that you will be able to make one more sale for the month then you will.

However if you tell yourself that you've hit the “wall” and can't work past 4 o clock then you won’t. If you believe that you can't close the at the sales meeting that you're going to then the probability is that you won't close that as well.

Once you get this belief into your system that you can have your future take any shape that you choose then you will be able to make sales, create wealth or even start and grow your own company.

By far the most important skill of all is to believe that you can keep pushing no matter how high the odds are stacked up against you.

When you develop the ability to, push past all the points where you feel tired or burned out, then failure will no longer apply to you. This is because you will keep going until you succeed.

In conclusion. Always be ready for a learning experience, when you stop viewing the world as wins and losses you will begin viewing things as learning experiences when that happens you will be able to move your sales at a faster pace by learning from each encounter and getting you closer to the sale.

If all this seems scary, I have one piece suggestion for you "Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway®"

What did you think of this post? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.

You Cannot Not Communicate

“Genius is the ability to put into effect what is on your mind.”-  F. Scott Fitzgerald

The foundation, building block, essence of all that we do is based on our communication. We are always communicating. Even, our act of silence is a form of communication.

You consciously or unconsciously decide how to communicate with yourself and others. Yes, at times it is tough communicating your message and you may want to give up.  Yet, remember the words of my friend (well, a friend in my mind) Les Brown “You are bigger than your circumstances or your life situation.”

It was in 1997 I came across this notion of “You cannot not communicate”, at that time it was an absurd and ridiculous statement in my map of the world. Until I came across the image of a Japanese person bowing down to greet while in response a Western person extends his/her hand to reciprocate the greetings.

This is a complete mismatch but both individuals are correct in their way of greetings. Their cultures have taught them that this is the best way to greet. So, you can easily see a message has been communicated in such a scenario.

Both individuals could easily take offence and can accuse each other of being rude. On the other hand they could realise they need to adjust their greetings thus the communication being a good one.

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No matter what you do, you are always communicating. The communication is happening through mediums such as verbal (language, words, sentences), non-verbal (body language, gestures, emotions) and voice (tone, pace, volume).

Indeed writing is another element but the most important critical one is the communication that is happening within yourself. When a person is unable to communicate with himself or herself in a positive and productive manner than the outcomes are not pleasant.

Your ability to communicate with yourself is crucial and then only it gets easier to communicate with others. It is what is known as rapport. Rapport is all about creating the essence of trust, respect, understanding and cooperation, which all beings within you.  It involves the use of all of your senses consciously.

For you to achieve success continuously comes from understanding yourself. To do this you have to comprehend your own perception of the world. Your perception impacts and influences your decisions and behaviour. A classic error that most of us make is blaming others but this leads to sabotaging our own success.

This simply means to know how to communicate better with yourself thus achieve better outcomes for yourself. You need to realise every action you take, word or sentence you say is firstly dictated with the internal communication happening in your mind. This is where the true battle is and not out there.

In a recent interaction with a loved one of mine in her current situation and to add fuel to the fire with her internal communication she has decided to sacrifice her dreams and aspirations for others. In her communication with herself the picture she has painted is of gloom and doom. Her belief in that picture is so strong that her communication of silence clearly shows she is set on a path of becoming a martyr.

Your external communication reflects from your internal communication. It is seen through your body language, heard through your voice and through the words you use. Many people think it is about the outside appearance but what is happening internally matters more.  Indeed, first impression matters but when there is no substance to you than that first impression is useless.

In a world where most of us measure success through material wealth and fame forget the foundations with great ease.  Our focus is towards earning money by hook or crook and in this journey we forget to communicate with ourselves effectively.

There is an immense pull at worrying about what others think rather than what you think for yourself. People die with all kinds of regrets and the number one regret for people on their deathbed is “I wish I’d cared less about what other people think.” In order to move away from such a regret start the internal communication of compassion and care for yourself.

My name is Rohit Bassi and I am the founder of In Learning. My mission is about sowing the seeds of passion to help you outperform yourself by enhancing your core critical skills of communication, leadership and collaboration. I have delivered workshops to the likes of Oracle, Harley-Davidson, Emirates NBD, Emaar, Alshaya, Baskin Robbins, Mazda and many more. Please feel free to contact me via rohit@in-learning.com or call on +971-(0)55-553-2275.

You Too Are In Sales

“To me, job titles don't matter. Everyone is in sales. It's the only way we stay in business.” - Harvey Mackay

Many individuals who are not in sales have a strong notion that that selling has nothing to do with them.  This is totally absurd and is absolutely incorrect. Such thinking is not only unethical but also sabotaging to any business.

Many of us resist assisting prospects in the sales process as we feel and believe we have nothing to do with it.  The reason being is our mind-set.  Unfortunately, we have been educated to believe that selling is all about the money transaction.  This is totally untrue.

Selling is an astonishing field no matter which industry you belong to. There is a notion amongst buyers that most salespeople are liars. In fact when I talk to salespeople most salespeople feel and believe they are liars. I would imagine with such a thought a sales person would come across numerous challenges when selling. No wonder non-sales people want to stay away from selling.

Mahatma Gandhi had a great saying “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption to our work; he is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider to our business; he is a part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him, he is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so.”

So, it is crucial for anyone in sales or not in sales to be aware that sales is the same as customer service. So, rather than thinking of the customer in terms of Always Be Closing (ABC) it is about time to think of them in terms of Always Value Before Closing (AVBC). In other words can I give them value in what I provide.

Everyone in an organisation is involved in customer service thus being a sales person. Just like in customer service you are there to help, serve, assist and guide the customer to a solution that will fulfil their needs and wherever possible their wants. That is exactly what happens in sales.

Never be mistaken that selling is the sole responsibility of those few individuals who have the word “sales” in their job title. In simple terms it is the responsibility of every person the organisation. 

This is the reason I strongly believe sales is all about Soul Based Service Excellence, which not about a transaction, it is about creating a positive customer service experience for your customer.

Remember you are always selling. A prime example is when you go for a job; you need to sell your skills and competence to your future employer.

“Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, 'Make me feel important.' Not only will you succeed in sales, you will succeed in life." - Mary Kay Ash



My name is Rohit Bassi and I am the founder of In Learning. My mission is about sowing the seeds of passion to help you outperform yourself by enhancing your core critical skills of communication, leadership and collaboration. I have delivered workshops to the likes of Oracle, Harley-Davidson, Emirates NBD, Emaar, Alshaya, Baskin Robbins, Mazda and many more. Please feel free to contact me via rohit@in-learning.com or call on +971-(0)55-553-2275.

You Are An Orange

When Dr.Wayne Dyer was preparing to speak at the "I Can Do It" conference he decided to bring an orange on stage with him as a prop for his talk.  He opened a conversation with a bright young fellow of who was sitting in the front row.

Here is how the conversation went:

“If I were to squeeze this orange as hard as I could, what would come out?” I asked him.

He looked at me like I was a little crazy and said, “Juice, of course.”

“Do you think apple juice could come out of it?”

Thanks, and here’s an orange for you!

“No!” he laughed.

“What about grapefruit juice?”

“No!”

“What would come out of it?”

“Orange juice, of course.”

“Why? Why when you squeeze an orange does orange juice come out?”

He may have been getting a little exasperated with me at this point. “Well, it’s an orange and that’s what’s inside.”

I nodded. “Let’s assume that this orange isn’t an orange, but it’s you. And someone squeezes you, puts pressure on you, says something you don’t like, offends you. And out of you comes anger, hatred, bitterness, fear. Why? The answer, as our young friend has told us, is because that’s what’s inside.”

It’s one of the great lessons of life.  What comes out when life squeezes you?  When someone hurts or offends you? If anger, pain and fear come out of you, it’s because that’s what’s inside. It doesn’t matter who does the squeezing—your mother, your brother, your children, your boss, the government. If someone says something about you that you don’t like, what comes out of you is what’s inside. And what’s inside is up to you, it’s your choice.

When someone puts the pressure on you and out of you comes anything other than love, it’s because that’s what you’ve allowed to be inside. Once you take away all those negative things you don’t want in your life and replace them with love, you’ll find yourself living a highly functioning life.

Extracted from http://www.drwaynedyer.com/blog/why-the-inside-matters/

My name is Rohit Bassi and I am the founder of In Learning. My mission is about sowing the seeds of passion to help you outperform yourself by enhancing your core critical skills of communication, leadership and collaboration. I have delivered workshops to the likes of Oracle, Harley-Davidson, Emirates NBD, Emaar, Alshaya, Baskin Robbins, Mazda and many more. Please feel free to contact me via rohit@in-learning.com or call on +971-(0)55-553-2275.

Trust Is Dangerous

“Trust is to human relationships what faith is to gospel living. It is the beginning place, the foundation upon which more can be built. Where trust is, love can flourish.” -  Barbara Smith

It is emotionally painful when someone you look up to utters the words to you “I don’t trust anyone” when you have placed your trust and faith in them. As you listen to these words it makes you wonder with all the passion, compassion and care you had placed into that individual the person was just pretending to be your well-wisher.

You see trust is extremely powerful. A simple definition of trust is belief “that someone or something is reliable, good, honest, effective, etc.”  Another definition that I read says “firm belief in the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing; confidence or reliance.”

Let me simplify it further trust means faith, hope, confidence thus it is a powerful act, emotion and word.  What is the point if there is no trust in a relationship? This could be relationship in terms of such as work, friendship, family, government and love. The relationship is gone if there is no trust.

Even though trust is important and extremely powerful, at the same time it can be considered to be dangerous.  Trust allows you to form relationships with others be it at work, with service providers, business deals, your career, family and friends. The danger part of trust is that you have to take the risk to believe the other person or party will pull through for you.

Yes, in life you will come across incidents where someone will break your trust. Depending on how attached you get to the pain of the trust being broken you may decide not to trust anyone anymore. That emotion of mistrust unconsciously you will pour into different parts of your life such as your career, business, intimate relationships, friendship and family ties. That mistrust will in the long run will cause you to sabotage your own life but you will blame others.

“People that have trust issues only need to look in the mirror. There they will meet the one person that will betray them the most.” - Shannon.L.Alder

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states “Trusting requires that we can, 1) be vulnerable to others (vulnerable to betrayal in particular); 2) think well of others, at least in certain domains; and 3) be optimistic that they are, or at least will be, competent in certain respects.”

You can easily take the heartache of someone breaking your trust and unknowingly or knowingly damage your own behaviour. In turn, this leads to your own failure and then you wonder why you are not successful in your life. Trust is the foundation of success.

“A man who trusts nobody is apt to be the kind of man nobody trusts.” - Harold MacMillan

My name is Rohit Bassi and I am the founder of In Learning. My mission is about sowing the seeds of passion to help you outperform yourself by enhancing your core critical skills of communication, leadership and collaboration. I have delivered workshops to the likes of Oracle, Harley-Davidson, Emirates NBD, Emaar, Alshaya, Baskin Robbins, Mazda and many more. Please feel free to contact me via rohit@in-learning.com or call on +971-(0)55-553-2275.