“Do you know, most of the world’s successful entrepreneurs started from sales! With the right Sales Skills, they can rock!”
Yes. You have to master this – “Sales Skills for Entrepreneurs”.
We all get bit by this “entrepreneurial bug” at one phase of our life. Ages back it will happen only at the age of 40+ after years of struggle across various verticals and a customary business administration degree from the top ‘B’ schools.
Thanks to all the technological advancements. The digital era enabled us to start a business from wherever we are; whenever we like to and get whatever we want. A mobile phone with an internet connection can do wonders.
Alright. Now I have an innovative idea, all the required technical expertise, and an internet-enabled mobile phone. I’m going to revolutionize the whole world!
Well. Not so fast!
Why Entrepreneurs should upgrade their sales skills?
Before getting into the must-have Sales Skills for Entrepreneurs, let’s see why an Entrepreneur should acquire his knowledge in sales.
1. You know your product better
Image Source: CBN Asia
Your product is your masterpiece. And it never happened overnight. You have invested all your hard work, intelligence, subject matter expertise, months of sleepless nights, and whatnot?
On top of it, you have to get over the pessimistic atmosphere created by the people around and voice within. After all the nail biting trials, your product evolved in glory.
Who else can explain your innovation better than you?
Entrepreneurs know what the product is capable of and how it can address the pain points of the customers at ease.
Whether you are going to get on the grounds, roll up your sleeves to sell or you are hiring a sales team, you are going to initiate the process of explaining why your product is the best.
How to talk about your product with passion?
2. You know who needs your product desperately
Most businesses fail because of focussing on the wrong target audience. Entrepreneurs create a product/service when they come across an unaddressed problem that is costing a lot of money, effort, and time.
Unless it reaches the right person, it’s worth is never realized.
We know every entrepreneur invests a lot of money in advertising campaigns, content strategists, content writers, creative designers, SEO analysts, vloggers, video editors, etc. to grab the attention of our prospects.
When they are focused in the wrong direction, you will lose all your dedicated cash reserves and all the efforts go in vain.
Five signs you picked a wrong target audience
Only the entrepreneurs can define the nuances of the target audience like their demographics, psychographics, their typical day, etc.
3. It’s ‘your’ passion
“Modern entrepreneurs need to be super salespeople”
-Martin Zwilling, Forbes
Every entrepreneur draws inspiration from many successful businessmen across the world like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Elon musk, Gary Vaynerchuck, who nailed the odds to reach those heights.
You have borne all the pain and sacrifices to build this product because you are so crazily passionate about it.
You have this fire burning inside to see people fall for its features. Apart from you, anyone else is going to just enable the sale for you. And the end of the day, ‘it’s your vision, your business’.
How to give amazing product demos?
4. You can minimise the ‘Gap’
Image Source: Buyersgap
“The gap between the CEO/Founder and the sales team is a serious issue”
Many businesses embrace this constantly. Many entrepreneurs at once their product is ready, hire a salesperson to play the number game and start focusing on another side of the business.
After seeing the salesperson’s everyday schedules, the business owner feels that everyone is in line and revenue is going to flood every quarter.
At the end of the quarter during the sales audits, while you wait for the cheques, your salesperson unleashes no money but arguments, complaints, blames.
The reason is the huge communication gap between the two vibrant minds. While the CEO focuses on the technicalities of the product, the salesperson focus on the numbers.
Sadly many salespeople struggle to explain the USPs of the product during the discovery calls. And they never take this to their CEOs’ table. Similarly, the many vibrant entrepreneurs who expect millions never sit and discuss where they are fumbling.
This necessitates the entrepreneurs to get into the shoes of salespeople.
11-sales-meeting-topics-your-sales-reps-really-really-want
5. You can take your business to the next level
Image Source: HRO Today
A product is labeled as the best when it resonates with the end customer. The beauty of getting a happy customer is he/she becomes your product’s brand ambassador. They market your product and get more sure shot sales.
To enjoy this entrepreneurs have to earn the trust of the customers. Trust happens when they talk in terms of the customers. This starts after building a good rapport with them. Rapport is not built overnight and it progresses gradually every day.
When you understand the pulse of your customer you understand better their needs. Which tells you where your product is lagging behind. Why they opt for others is it the,
- Cost
- Features
- Infrastructure
- Reluctance to change
- Complex hierarchy
- Lack of awareness on the issue
- etc.
You’ll get to know which stage your customer is struggling to enjoy the benefits of your ‘one of a kind product’ and take your product/service to the next level of innovation.
6. You can understand your competitors
Years back we know about a product or a service through TV commercials, newspaper ads, snippets, brochures, etc. The producers reached the customers. But now,
‘The customers choose the producers, where to buy’
They have ‘n’ number of options right on their hands. Within a few minutes, they can explore hundreds of options, order, and get it home delivered quickly and safely.
How will an entrepreneur sitting in his/her bay know about this?
Only when he dusts up his sales and gets on the floor he can skyrocket his business.
Sales skills for the entrepreneurs
Now we have seen why sales skills are predominant for entrepreneurs.
But what are the must-have sales skills for entrepreneurs?
Wait for our next article on the same.
Pitchcamp is always there for you to discuss anything and everything about sales. You can reach out to us anytime and stay updated with all our upcoming events.