“Opportunity rarely looks like opportunity.” – Meshell Baker in today’s Tip 1530
How do you identify opportunities?
Join the conversation below and check out the links!
1505: The ABC’s of Sales – KNOWLEDGEABLE
1512: The ABC’s of Sales – LAUGHTER
1519: The ABC’s of Sales – MISTAKES
1526: The ABC’s of Sales – NURTURE
Meshell Baker on LinkedIn
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Transcript
Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today Meshell Baker, the Sales Confidence Igniter, is back with the next installment of her multi-part series. Here she is:
Meshell Baker: Hello and welcome to the ABCs of Sales. Today’s letter is O for Opportunity. Now, opportunity is defined as when a set of circumstances makes it possible for you to do something. Or said another way, opportunity plus preparation equals success. So if you are sitting around and waiting for your company, for others to actually give you the opportunities to make it successful, well, that means that you will not meet success.
So how can you be prepared for opportunities?
The one thing to understand about opportunity is that it rarely looks like an opportunity. I often tell people in my talking and coaching that opportunity appears as obstacles and problems. You are a person who is selling a solution. Guess what? People only need a solution when there’s a problem or a set of circumstances that are not working for them. You looking for a bed of roses is not how you find more opportunities.
I never forget a story or an analogy that was shared with me about what an opportunity actually is. And Anne Lavender says it best in a quote, Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.
I actually share an analogy of most people look for opportunities thinking that they’re going to show up in a limousine tuxedo ball gown with champagne. When the actual truth about opportunities is it’s generally an old beat-up pickup truck, a toothless guy in tattered overalls with a three-legged, one-eyed dog holding a pickaxe and a shovel asking you, are you ready to work? That’s what an opportunity looks like.
When you are ready to work, the current database that you have, the current circumstances that you have, you will create your own opportunities.
What does that look like?
First, understand. What is the problem you solve? What is the thing that your ideal client needs from you? Who is your ideal client? Once you truly understand that, you will be ready to get to work. If you want to practice how you approach this, look for someone to role-play with. Too often sellers wait until they are in front of a client or a potential client or a potential lead to talk about what their offer is, never having practiced it.
Remember, practice makes you prepared for these opportunities so that you can have success. So look for ways to practice as much as possible. Be prepared to adapt to whatever the situation is that you can have further conversations. Record a video of yourself giving your solution or talking about the biggest problem that you solve so you have it readily available to send to people just in case they can’t connect you. Also, look for different ways to add value in the conversation.
One of the sayings that I often share with people is focus on what you propose, not the close. Remember, every conversation is not going to turn into a sale, yet you can ensure that every conversation turns into a possible addition to your funnel when you add value and focus on what’s valuable to them.
Create a clear call to action. What is the next step? Sometimes the next step is to schedule a call. Sometimes it’s to send them information. Sometimes it’s to enroll them in a course, send them a video, send them an article, have them subscribe to your newsletter. Remember, look at what the next step in the process is that keeps adding value for that possible opportunity.
And then lastly, follow up, follow up, follow up. Too often people think it’s too late, or I forgot to call them, or too much time has gone by.
Face the fear and call them anyway. It will help you build confidence and you’ll be surprised at who will be receptive to that call, even though you think it’s too late, you never know when that opportunity will turn into a sale. Have a great day selling and remember, opportunity rarely looks like opportunity.
Scott Ingram: To take the opportunity to connect with Meshell, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1530. Once you’ve done that, be sure to come right back for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!