Becoming a better sale person has a lot to do with becoming a better person. Sales has also a lot to do with disclosure or lack thereof. Let me illustrate. I once bought a laptop computer at a shop. I decided not to buy the store three year service plan. The young salesman wanted me to buy it. I just knew he did. The other options he offered were two year deal. The basic take out of the store return policy was 14 days. He kept mentioning the benefits of the three year deal. I kept declining.

I had this thought in mind, "if you want me to have it so much, why don't you buy it for me." Being a gentleman, I said no such thing. Being a good salesman doesn't always mean heaping the sales on the shopping victim. Being a better salesman means making a friend, who will feel comfortable coming back. Being a good salesman means respecting the decisions of your customer. If you want to be a good salesman, state the options to customers and leave the decision to him. If you want to make the sale so bad, be prepared to put in some of your own money.

I later learned that the manufacturer does have a full one year warranty on the product. The young salesman being a good salesman neglected to mention that fact. Or it may have been his throw away lines, that I didn't really pay attention to. I learned that for myself when I registered my new purchase on line. My estimation of the salesman took another step down. I will also return to that same shop only for the best deal and when I really have to.

Being a good salesman means, listening to the customer. It means giving the options which can be added to the product, factory warranties and services available. Those include optional services, which sometimes are a great deal depending on the product. The salesperson should also point out the benefits, without applying pressure.

Give the customer opportunities to speak. I can't count the number of times, I had salesman try to ram the sale by doing all the talking. A salesman who drives the hard sell is the kind of person a shopper don't want to come back to.

Close the sale as quickly as possible, without seeming to be in a rush about it. It is in your best interest. If your customer is slow, encourage some speed without getting pushy. That is especially important when there are customers waiting for service. Customers are notorious for being impatient.

Be honest. If you aren't crazy about a particular item or service, suggest something else. Customers love honesty and some insight to the service or product. Most times something you love is a much easier sale.

Be willing to learn. As a young sales person, you have a lot to learn. You have the products to learn about but even more importantly you have people to learn about. Even if you think sales is not for me, you could get good at it with practice, patients, and time. Also be willing to put up with the senior salesmen. They tend to think they have earned their dues and in some case so they have. You can also learn a lot of things from them.

Learn more about this author, Jobie Weetaluktuk.
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