Name: Agile Selling
Rating: 3.7 (67 reviews)
Author: Jill Konrath

What’s in it for me? To win more sales, you have to learn how to learn.

The one thing about sales and selling is that it doesn’t ever get easier.

Even with plenty of experience, you might feel that you’ve finally got the knack, only to have the market and environment change in front of your eyes.

This is why both young and experienced salespeople often struggle – the art of selling is always changing. Entry-level salespeople labor to learn their products and gather clients, while experienced sellers can trip over updated company strategy or the introduction of a new product.

In these blinks, you’ll learn how to roll with the punches in an ever-changing sales environment, through knowing the secret of all great salespeople: agile learning. By becoming an agile learner, you too can transform yourself into that great salesperson you’ve always wanted to be.

In the following blinks, you’ll also discover:

how sitting down with the company CEO might actually lose you a sale;
why optimists sell more than pessimists; and
why role-playing games aren’t just for fans of Harry Potter.

To succeed as a salesperson, you need to be adaptable to change.

No matter how innovative a new product might be, it still needs to be sold. And that’s where salespeople come in.

But unfortunately, selling isn’t so simple, as the world of sales is constantly changing.

Sales teams constantly need to be on the lookout for more effective ways to sell their products. That might mean setting new strategies or embracing new technology (like software).

What’s more, salespeople have to be nimble and adaptable to succeed. Think of it this way: Techniques that effectively sell coffee machines to housewives probably won’t sell smartphones to large retailers.

And there’s another important element of sales that constantly changes – the people you sell to. You need to know that buyers tend to become savvier and smarter over time.

In fact, buyers have changed more than ever in recent years. Today no one needs a salesperson to rattle off a list of product features, for example; a buyer can simply find the details online.

But this doesn’t mean that salespeople are irrelevant. Rather, a 2011 study found that 53 percent of consumers care more about the sales experience than the price – or even the product itself!

So how can you as a salesperson deliver an experience that a buyer wants? By putting yourself in the shoes of a customer to explain why your product is a perfect fit.

Yet this kind of personalized sales experience is particularly difficult to deliver when everything around you is changing constantly. That’s why to succeed, you need to become an agile learner.

Agile learning is the ability to easily adapt to new circumstances by quickly absorbing the knowledge and skills that are relevant to each individual situation.

For example, when your biggest client gets a new CEO, perhaps your sales goals will change as a result. Roll with the change and take advantage of this opportunity to learn something new, gain experience and become a better seller!

Successful sellers thoroughly prepare for everything that could possibly go wrong in a meeting.

Once you catch up to your colleagues and learn tons of new information, how can you use it to seal a deal?

Excellence in sales demands thorough preparation. Not everyone realizes this: Some people think they can simply charm their way into closing a deal. But no matter how charming you are, potential customers still won’t buy from you unless you’ve done your research.

Selling is all about personalizing your pitch, and that’s why communication skills are so crucial.

Once you’ve got the knowledge and you’re well-prepared, it’s time to refine your communication skills.

Because as a seller, it’s your job to lead a conversation – not just to push products. Some people mistakenly view salespeople as a billboard, but you’re not there to simply fill a prospect’s ear with sales pitches, you’re there to provide a personalized sales experience.

Practice makes perfect: Work hard to improve your sales skills on a daily basis.

In addition to all of the strategies you’ve acquired over the course of your career, you should also work to keep your skills honed on a daily basis.

To stay on top, you have to stay inspired and motivated. In sales, attitude counts for a lot: Optimistic sellers outperform their pessimistic peers. So make sure you keep up a good attitude.

Key ideas in Agile Selling

What is Agile Selling about?

In Agile Selling, you’ll discover how to boost your productivity and learn to thrive in any kind of sales environment. The book explores the strategies of great salespeople and how they adapt to new circumstances, and offers practical advice on how you too can become more adaptive in your business.