Sales training ideas – How to stand out when selling.

In sales you simply must stand out from all the other salespeople, not just the ones in your industry, but also the other salespeople that are calling on your prospects and customers, as they are taking up their time too. This article outlines several ways to be unique in sales. 

7 Ways to stand out in sales 

1) Everyone has to eat, right?

Dropping off breakfast, lunch, or other treats at a prospect’s or customer’s office is a great way to stand out from other salespeople. You can even call ahead and take everyone’s order. You can also bring special items at festive times of the year. For example, you might bring in some Halloween candy late in October, some Easter candy in April, or chocolates during the December holidays.  

2) Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Find excuses to stay in touch with your customers. Think of reasons to send a card to your customers every month of the year. Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, the Fourth of July, a birthday, a marriage anniversary, the anniversary date of the day the customer started doing business with you, you name it. Every month is known for something whether it’s a major holiday or something like Groundhog Day, so between holidays and personal events, you can find a reason to send a card to customers every month. 

3) Go out of your way for your customer’s customers.

Once, when we were cold calling on a competitive account, we approached the receptionist, who was tied up helping some customers. While we were waiting, one of us noticed an older woman seated, her walker in front of her. My associate caught her eye, said hello, and began a conversation about the weather, housing, and the local economy. It was evident that she didn’t get an opportunity to talk to many people during her day. They continued talking for a few minutes until the receptionist was free. My associate didn’t rush away; he continued to talk with the woman a little longer before saying goodbye. The receptionist, observing this, apparently thought he was the greatest guy in the world and grinned widely as she asked how she could help us.  My associate asked for the contact person and mentioned that although he was not familiar with us, he would probably recognize the name of our company. He also mentioned we simply needed a moment of his time. With a big smile on her face, the receptionist said, “Oh don’t worry. I’ll get you in to see him.” She was on our side at that point because one of us had taken the time to make one of her customer’s days. 

4) Work Fridays

It’s amazing how many salespeople leave early on Friday or simply do a bunch of “busy” work yet get nothing accomplished. Most people are in great moods on Friday, and that’s precisely when you want to catch them. The same goes for days before a holiday. Take advantage of these times when people are in good moods and most other salespeople aren’t working. 

5) Get involved in installation and implementation.

There are very few salespeople hanging around the customer’s office when the installation and implementation are going on. You should be different. Customers will be very impressed if you’re there for installation and implementation. You don’t have to go to every single one; however, you should be there for a customer’s first install and occasionally on future installs. You will also learn a little bit more about your product, which is a nice side benefit. 

6)   Find creative ways to make customer problems go away.

With what problems do customers call you? Billing problems, service problems, installation problems? Make notes on all of these, particularly the most frequent ones. Be proactive. Try to correct any recurring problems at the front end to prevent them from happening in the first place. Also, brainstorm more effective ways of handling problems.  

7)   Exceed customer expectations.  

Exceeding customer expectations means delivering more, better, or faster. If typical turnaround time is three weeks, tell your customer, “Typical turnaround is about four to five weeks.” When you call a couple of weeks later and say you can deliver sooner, you’ll look like a hero. If you make it a habit to deliver more than is expected, you will have happy customers. 

In sales you need to be unique and stand out from the crowd. Let the people you deal with know you are a nice person, someone they can trust, and someone with whom they want to do business. Always make sure everything about you says you are professional, positive, energetic, trustworthy, friendly, helpful, and different, in a good way, from all the other salespeople. This is one of the best ways to ensure success in sales.