Three skills you can learn that can improve your business today!
I was walking my dog Dakota, and we saw the kids at the bus stop. Back to school time, and I thought Summer went fast. Many of your kids are heading back to school in Kindergarten, grade or high school, and College. Dakota gets a bit excited when the school bus drives by us. I want to think he is saying have a great day of learning, kids, or he wants to chase the bus.
Can you remember your first day of school?
The excitement to meet new friends and an opportunity to learn something new. Thank goodness for Teachers! I am grateful for all my teachers through the years. I learned many lessons from a teacher I have yet to meet, Warren Buffet.
A quote from Warren Buffett sums up our business and life journey, “The more you learn, the more you earn.”
It may be time to return to school and reiterate what has made you successful in the past. Buffett shared that Success is all about making smarter investment decisions. But those decisions may have nothing to do with stocks and bonds.
To make the most of your investment means never stop acquiring knowledge — the kind of knowledge that betters yourself as a whole person, not just as an investor.
Do you need new skills or knowledge to improve your business and sales? As you become more comfortable with selling, you may have lost focus on what made you successful, like providing research, meeting preparation, and building deep connections with your clients.
Here are three skills you want to learn.
Invest in improving your communication skills
There is a saying that knowledge is power, although that may be true. How you communicate that is knowledge is the key.
Communication is key to any business. If you can communicate thought-provoking questions to ask, you can gain the knowledge needed to help your clients solve their problems.
If you are in a leadership role, you need to be able to communicate your message to the team. You have to be able to adjust your communication style with each team member. The team members have different ways they receive your message. You have analytical, expressive, visual learners on your team; some learn better by hearing or seeing your message.
Warren Buffett shared that investing in developing your communication skills — both in writing and in person — “can increase your value by at least 50 percent.” Now that is a great return!
You have many options to become a better communicator. Enroll in a Dale Carnegie course on how to communicate, join a Toast Master series, or I recommend calling my friend Michael Davis who helps you communicate and influence those you lead with better communication. https://speakingcpr.com/
Invest in improving your leadership skills
Buffett’s advice is about one non-negotiable trait that successful leaders must have: integrity. He said we look for three things when we hire people. We look for intelligence, we look for initiative or energy, and we look for integrity.
Customers want to work with people they trust and value authentic people and relationships. A lack of trust [by the buyer] often results from a lack of authenticity on the salesperson’s part. Buyers can see through scripted pitches and lack of engagement.
Successful salespeople curate their sales approach to incorporate who they are, what they believe in, and the tangible value they can bring to the relationship. Honest discussions about the solutions and challenges your clients are facing and the collaboration required to successfully help lay the foundation for a meaningful relationship built on authenticity and trust.
Invest in improving your business relationships
One of the best successful strategies is surrounding yourself with the right people. My mom always said, ” You become whom you hang around.” So it’s essential to associate with people more intelligent than yourself.”
As the famous saying goes, we are the average of the five people we spend the most time around. Make sure to associate with those further along the path who can potentially help you learn new things, grow, and advance your career.
Any good conversation involves people connecting, building a mutual understanding, and forming a trust. Think back to a conversation in your personal life where you and another person felt comfortable and understood: Connecting in sales works the same way.
The salesperson and the prospective customer are comfortable sharing information and reaching a mutual understanding. This exchange helps uncover real opportunities, develop meaningful alignment, access deeper insights, and open the door to collaborative problem-solving.
With these ideas in mind, I encourage you to spend some time each week with your salespeople to help them refocus, take a disciplined approach to selling, and convert more sales faster.
Creating a lifelong pursuit of learning, investing in yourself, surrounding yourself with more innovative people, and sharing your knowledge with others is the secret sauce to your Success.
I encourage you to think about one skill you can learn today and commit to yourself until you have mastered it. Investing in yourself is the best way to find Success.
If you think someone could benefit from this, share it.
Learn more about Simplifying Your sales meetings using 3-word topics at http://www.threewordmeetings.com.