gross sales

Here are some guidelines that will definitely improve your gross sales, and quite naturally, your gross income. I like to call them the Strategic Salesmanship Commandments. Look them over; give some thought to each of them; and adapt hose that you can to your own selling efforts.

 1. If the product you're selling is something your prospect can hold in his hands,
  get it into his hands as quickly as possible. In other words, get the prospect
  "into the act." Let him feel it, weigh it, admire it.

 2. Don't stand or sit alongside your prospect. Instead, face him while you're
  pointing out the important advantages of your product. This will enable you to
  watch his facial expressions and determine whether and when you should go
  for the close. In handling sales literature, hold it by the top of the page, at the
  proper angle, so that your prospect can read it as you're highlighting the
  important points.

  Regarding your sales literature, don't release your hold on it, because you want
  to control the specific parts you want the prospect to read. In other words, you
  want the prospect to read or see only the parts of the sales material you're
  telling him about at a given time.

 3. With prospects who won't talk with you: When you can get no feedback to
  your sales presentation, you must dramatize your presentation to get him
  involved. Stop and ask questions such as, "Now, don't you agree that this
  product can help you or would be of benefit to you?" After you've asked a
  question such as this, stop talking and wait for the prospect to answer. It's a
  proven fact that following such a question, the one who talks first will lose, so
  don't say anything until after the prospect has given you some kind of answer.
  Wait him out!

 4. Prospects who are themselves sales people, and prospects who imagine they
  know a lot about selling sometimes present difficult selling obstacles, especially
  for the novice. But believe me, these prospects can be the easiest of all to sell.
  Simply give your sales presentation, and instead of trying for a close, toss out a
  challenge such as, "I don't know, Mr. Prospect - after watching your reactions
  to what I've been showing and telling you about my product, I'm very doubtful
  as to how this product can truthfully be of benefit to you."

  Then wait a few seconds, just looking at him and waiting for him to say
  something. Then, start packing up your sales materials as if you are about to
  leave. In almost every instance, your "tough nut" will quickly ask you, Why?
  These people are generally so filled with their own importance, that they just
  have to prove you wrong. When they start on this tangent, they will sell
  themselves. The more skeptical you are relative to their ability to make your
  product work to their benefit, the more they'll de mand that you sell it to them.

  If you find that this prospect will not rise to your challenge, then go ahead with
  the packing of your sales materials and leave quickly. Some people are so
  convinced of their own importance that it is a poor use of your valuable time to
  attempt to con vince them.

 5. Remember that in selling, time is money! Therefore, you must allocate only so
  much time to each prospect. The prospect who asks you to call back next
  week, or wants to ramble on about similar products, prices or previous
  experiences, is costing you money. Learn to quickly get your prospect
  interested in, and wanting your product, and then systematically present your
  sales pitch through to the close, when he signs on the dotted line, and reaches
  for his checkbook.

  After the introductory call on your prospect, you should be selling products and
  collecting money. Any call backs should be only for reorders, or to sell him
  related products from your line. In other words, you can waste an introductory
  call on a prospect to qualify him, but you're going to be wasting money if you
  continue calling on him to sell him the first unit of your product. When faced
  with a reply such as, "Your product looks pretty good, but I'll have to give it
  some thought," you should quickly jump in and ask him what it is that he
  doesn't understand, or what specifically about your product does he feel he
  needs to give more thought. Let him explain, and that's when you go back into
  your sales presentation and make everything crystal clear for him. If he still
  balks, then you can either tell him that you think he's procrastinating, or that
  overall, you don't think the product will really benefit him, or it's purchase be to
  his advantage.


  You must spend as much time as possible calling on new prospects. Therefore,
  your first call should be a selling call with follow-up calls by mail or telephone
  (once every month or so in person) to sign him for reorders and other items
  from your product line.


 6. Review your sales presentation, your sales materials, and your prospecting
  efforts. Make sure you have a "door-opener" that arouses interest and "forces"
  a purchase the first time around. This can be a $2 interest stimulator so that
  you can show him your full line, or a special marked-down price on an item that
  everybody wants; but the important thing is to get the prospect on your "buying
  customer" list, and then follow up via mail or telephone with related, but more
  profitable products you have to offer.


 If you accept our statement that there are no born salesmen, you can readily absorb these "commandments." Study them, as well as all the material in this report. When you realize your first successes, you will truly know that "salesman are made - not born." know a lot about selling sometimes present difficult selling obstacles.