How to make your sales successful!
Three lessons from our sales expert Lily Mizani
Instead of hunting in the forest with binoculars, Lily Mizani did it for a long time in the context of smart offices and fine threads. As the person responsible for acquiring new customers, however, she also spent a long time lying in wait there until she then, usually successfully, went on the attack. Today, she is self-employed with her agency Heartcoresales and teaches which strategies can be used to improve your own sales skills.
She gained her first experience in sales in a call centre in order to finance her business studies at the universities of Cologne and San Diego. After a permanent position at a renowned IT and high-tech company, where she expanded her experience, she travelled around the world to be trained by the best international trainers.
To date, she has made over 16,000 cold calls and has over 17 years of experience in sales - including over 10 years in B2B.
Lesson 1: 80% of your success is your mindset, only 20% is your skillset.
Fear is a bad counsellor. Lily Mizani knows this too. The way we enter into an inner dialogue with ourselves determines how we feel when we go into sales. So how about a kind word for ourselves every now and then? Or maybe even a power pose? - That's all it takes to put ourselves in a positive mood. With a strong inner feeling, we also appear more present in discussions with customers and are automatically perceived as more competent.
Many people are afraid of cold calling because they have to deal with rejection. With time and experience, this fear is relativised - but some of it remains, because our products/services are repeatedly rejected and we have to motivate ourselves anew every day.
The path of personal development is essential if the fear of rejection is to be overcome in the long term. Developing your own personality leads, among other things, to building up more (self-)awareness on the subject of "rejection". This makes it much easier to deal with it.
Lesson 2: Integrity is the basis for a sustainable, long-term and healthy business.
A major aspect of Lily's philosophy is Integrity. Not least for the reason that the aim of cold callers is often to acquire and terminate decision-makers in target companies. In other words, they establish a business relationship. Time and again, she has to realise that salespeople simply ignore the topic of "integrity" and are proud to use made-up stories to gain access to companies and contacts:
"A few months ago, the managing director of a company contacted me. He wanted me to coach his sales employees. One of the employees seemed to be experienced and proudly told me that he had been doing telephone canvassing for a very long time and was successful in making acquisitions. When I asked him how he gets into conversations, he replied that he uses so-called "cover stories". This means that they tell "tall tales" on the phone. For example, he claims that he is calling from the press and wants to interview the managing director for a trade journal. He is then put through.
My question in response was: "Do you think this approach and business behaviour have integrity?"
Lesson 3: Identify your emotional "why".
I'm often asked at my talks: "How do you motivate yourself? You get so many "NOs". After a few calls, I don't even want to dial anymore."
My answer to this is: "You need an emotional WHY".
Why do you do the job? Why do you get up in the morning? What are your goals? Many people have many goals - only very few achieve them.
The difference between these people is that they know exactly WHY they do what they do. The motivation behind it is crucial. This makes the actions they take a MUST. This is the only way to achieve the goals you set yourself. The why should therefore be as intense and emotional as possible so that you become unstoppable. This way, not achieving your goals is simply not an option.
So sales is not just about craftsmanship. Empathy and other soft skills also have their place here. If you would also like to learn how to use these qualities to your advantage, then Lily Mizani is the right place for you.
So what are you waiting for?
Take your sales to a new level now! We can help you! Contact us directly via the Contact form!
