When Joe Gandolfo, a life insurance salesman, was asked how he had sold more than a billion dollars in life insurance in 1975, he said that all it takes is “understanding people.” Although Joe’s answer makes the sale seem simple, his formula for his success is one that I can recommend without hesitation, because it will work just as well for you as it does for insurance agents or any sales representative. .
In the insurance industry, as you may know, members of that profession rave about someone who sells more than a million dollars worth of life insurance each year. In fact, they have an elite group of sales reps that they call the Million Dollar Roundtable where people are recognized for excellent sales performance. To put Joe’s achievement into better perspective, it would take an average million-dollar roundtable producer a thousand years to match Joe Gandolfo’s production figures for 1975 alone.
Joe’s performance is almost unbelievable from any perspective. However, from his sales productivity, we see that he belongs to an elite group of superstars who have discovered the secrets of sales success. So when Joe suggests that it’s a sales rep’s ability to understand and work with people, rather than technical skills or product knowledge that produces sales, he really needs to pay attention to what he has to do. say. Joe’s sales philosophy is simple: If you don’t learn and use the techniques that will help you know and understand your prospects, you will never be able to effectively use your product knowledge or persuasion skills to produce a steady stream of sales. .
In our Selling Success Strategies self-paced learning series (http://www.TheSellingEdge.com/manual1.htm), we explore some vital techniques that will help you set the stage for getting to know people better. The first and most important step in the sales process is building rapport with the people you serve. This is a vital step because if you don’t build trust, your prospects will never reveal enough about themselves to give you inside information to help them meet their needs by purchasing your products and/or services.