The Four Principles of Sales Success
Selling is one of the world’s most popular professions. It’s estimated that there are approximately 15 million people in the U.S. alone who are employed in sales. Many enjoy the freedom afforded by sales and are attracted by its generous income potential. Yet while the selling profession is relatively easy to break into, it’s difficult to excel at. Too many salespeople don’t take their careers seriously, thinking that an outgoing personality, the gift of gab, and a few good one-liners will bring success. Unfortunately it’s not that easy.
Your ability to succeed and become a top performer is dependent on mastering four things, which we call the KASH concept.
Knowledge
- Having a thorough understanding of your company’s products and services
- Understanding your industry and your customers
- Learning all you can about your competitors (strengths & weaknesses compared to your company)
Attitude
- How you feel about yourself and your ability to succeed (your self-esteem; your self-concept)
- How you feel about your company’s ability to compete effectively in the marketplace
- How you feel about the growth potential of your industry
Skills
- Having an effective selling system or sales process
- Having the tactics to execute the sales process
- Having great people skills
Habits
- Setting goals (both business and personal)
- Having specific action plans to achieve the goals
- Conducting the daily or weekly activities necessary to achieve your goals
The journey to sales excellence takes time; unfortunately there are no shortcuts. As we said, good selling has a lot of moving parts that need to be executed well. Every time you ignore one of these elements you reduce your chances of success. Ignore the majority of them and you will fail. Execute them all professionally and your selling career will reward you very well.
Self-Study Assignment: Rate yourself on a scale of 1-5
(5 = excellent) in each of the twelve areas. Develop an action plan to improve yourself in the weak areas.
