Salesmanship can be defined as the skill required to convince people to buy or in persuading people to do something.

The best description of “selling” is: Selling is the process of transferring your enthusiasm for an idea, product or service to a customer or
potential customer with a need to be satisfied.

Facts Concerning Salesmanship:

 People buy people first, then it can be categorised as goods and services.
 People will run from high pressure sales tactics and they don’t come back.
 People prefer to believe they have bought something without persuasion.
 People can read you like a book. The truth is reflected in your eyes and in your face.
 Honesty is the key to owning a customers loyalty.
 On the average, it takes seven contacts to develop one repeat customer.

Why customers do not buy :

1. The customer is not qualified to buy.
2. Salesperson failed to establish common ground.
3. Salespersons only concern was making the sale.
4. Salesperson failed to establish trust.
5. Salesperson failed to present enough facts to make an intelligent decision.
Why customers don’t come back are:
1. Failure to establish common ground.
2. Failure to follow up the sale with “Thanks” and customer satisfaction analysis.
Why sales people fail to accomplish their task :
1. Poor people skills.
2. Negative attitudes.
3. Lack of self-confidence.
4. Lack of knowledge.
5. Fear.
6. Inability to follow up.
There are six techniques of professional sales management, which if kept in mind while going for any sales call can turn out to be a
successful one.
1. Sell to People
• Aim at becoming a people expert 3. Skill of being a patient listener.
• Professional salespeople actually like people • Develop your questioning techniques
• People buy from people – they always will. • Listen to understand
2. Sell Yourself • God has given us two ears and one mouth, we should use them
• Be interesting and develop ‘intellect’ in that order
• Never be arrogant – never talk ‘up’ or ‘down’. Respect the buyer • Successful sales professionals talk for 20% of the time and
and they will respect you and upgrade your empathy levels listen for 80% of the time
• Control ego levels. • Develop your active listening skills.
4. Features Must Be Linked To Benefits: 5. Be Unique
• Features are common – benefits are personal and specific • Every business, every company, every product has something
• Discover ‘prime desires’ that is unique
• Personalize benefits • Look outside the square
• Describe end results. • Identify the uniqueness of: – your product – your service – your
• 84% of all buying decisions are based upon emotion – not logic. company – yourself
You Cannot Rely On Logic • Buyers buy solutions and results they do not buy products or
• What are the chief buying emotions? – Ego – Security – Pride service.
Of Ownership – Greed – Health – Prestige – Status – Ambition – 6. Finally: Be Professional At all Times
Fear Of Loss • The greatest compliment a customer can pay you is to describe
you as “professional”
• Don’t worry about being liked –be respected.
• Being professional is not one thing it is three:
• It is what you do, what you say and how you present yourself.

In the end, salesmanship is all about building long term relationships. It is not about closing the sale. It is about building your business
with a strong foundation. It is about mining the existing customer base and adding new ones in the funnel. A business that is not growing
is dying. A business that is not attracting new customers is going backward. New customers are fresh lifeblood to any successful
business. Retaining customers adds stability, but it is the NEW CUSTOMER that creates growth and balance.