Some people will feel that sales comes naturally to them and others will believe that they couldn’t sell wood to a paper mill. “The truth is” says Sunjveer Panday the Gold Winner of the Contact Center World Awards for Best Sales Manager in 2017, “everyone of us are salesmen and women.
We sell our selves every, single day from the way we present ourselves to our bosses when we are pursuing a promotion to buying a house and even dating someone.”
Panday, who is also the General Manager of the Sales Division at Talksure Trading, started as a sales agent in 2006. Whilst he believes that we all inherently possess the ability to sell, he says that this is a skill that can be nurtured and developed with some deliberate behaviours.
He offers the following tips to both sales agents as well as those looking to become sales agents:
- Have the right mindset
Your position as a sales agent is part of your career journey, it’s not just a job. Realise that despite the skills development opportunities provided to you, it is ultimately up to you to take the initiative to improve yourself and work your way up. Accept that this will also take time and develop your resilience to make it through the challenges.
- Be transparent
A good sales agent will ensure that customers pay and stay. Be transparent in your approach to them and avoid overselling. Customers appreciate it if you’re upfront so that they know what they’re buying. Get feedback from them and make sure they were happy with the experience and the product. Making up information to make a sale also gives the industry a bad reputation.
- Set goals
Work with your manager and set realistic goals to achieve within a timeline. These may be professional goals or personal. Perhaps you would like to earn enough to buy a car or take a holiday. These kinds of goals will motivate you on a day-to-day basis.
- Develop your Emotional Intelligence
As a sales agent, you need to develop your ability to work with different people. You can do this by developing your capacity for empathy – put yourself in someone else’s shoes. This is a skill you need to cultivate in practice and will give you an edge in your ability to connect with people and ultimately understand your customer’s needs. If you want to progress to a management role this is also an essential skill in understanding your team. Practice being a good listener and put your ego aside.
“Most of all, believe in what you are selling! If you don’t think that your product or service will truly benefit the customer, they won’t believe it either,” Panday concludes.
About
Established in 2010, Talksure has fast become one of South Africa’s most respected independent Financial Service Providers. The strong entrepreneurial and ethical vision developed by our founder and chairman is shared by our Executive team who have almost 100 years of combined experience within the Financial Services and contact centre industry in Europe and South Africa.
Talksure offers the full package to businesses of all sizes; outsourcing opportunities, sales capability, brokerage opportunity, bespoke integrated sales, customer relationship management and collections software system, and award-winning skills development for their employees.
