How do you become a better salesperson?

You are always learning to become a better sales person! Check out some formula and step on how I grow to become a better sales person on my blog: http://www.2asuccessdreamblog.com/how-to-be-persistent-in-sales/

1. It all starts with the right mindset: Great salespeople fundamentally understand that the sales interaction is ALL about understanding (and learning) the customer's or the client's needs. Great salespeople learn how to form great questions so they can determine the person's need and what's best for the customer. The better the questions, the better the interaction, and the better the salesperson. 2. The great W. Clement Stone made a statement worth remembering: "All sales are contingent on the attitude of the sales person, not the attitude of the prospect. The salesperson who is inspired, and has the proper know-how and knowledge, can influence the prospect to buy." Note that Stone didn't say, manipulate, he said, influence. 3. Never underestimate the power of first connecting with the customer or prospect. That means creating rapport, whenever possible, and the best way to create rapport is to be interested in the prospect and what they need, rather than trying to be interesting. 4. Great salespeople not only ask good questions; they listen carefully to the response—they are interested in the response. 5. Great salespeople also are willing to take the lead. And, frankly, "most customers are begging to be led." (so says the amazing Jay Abraham). What this means is, don't be afraid to make a suggestion or recommendation to the customer—after you learn what it is he or she wants or needs. For example, "Sue, after everything you've told me so far, my recommendation is for you to [fill in the blank}, but, it's up to you, you decide." 6. Great salespeople are great at building relationships, even if it's only for ten minutes. They care about people, demonstrate that they care, are knowledgeable, and even have the unmitigated courage to say, "Mr. Customer, my [product or service] is not right for you." Summing up: Connect first. Find out what the person needs or wants by asking the right questions. Help guide him or her to the right choice, and most of all, care about people more than you care about the sale, no matter what your sales manager tells you.

Remarkably, studies on sales continue to show that market-wide productivity is continually on the diminish. Although organizations are growing their revenue teams and pursuing more aggressive revenue goals, They simply aren’t climbing their processes, best practices, and revenue tools effectively.Consider the following suggestions for improving product sales productivity:Successfully On board & TrainIt’s also important to have continuous growth and coaching in place to keep your repetitions up to speed. Fifty-five percent of the people making their living in revenue don’t have the right skills to be effective, and less than 45% of companies have a official revenue coaching process. However, continuous coaching can result in 50% greater net revenue per salesperson. And that 2/3 of revenue repetitions who execute at or below allowance can be trained and advised to function at a advanced level of efficiency.Embrace AutomationLess than 1/3 of a revenue person’s time goes to primary promoting. Time invested in inadequate, recurring, or non-best practice projects time invested not promoting. Any moment you can improve an activity, you will save steps and time so that revenue repetitions can get back to primary promoting activities. Reduce or eliminate admin projects, such as data entry, and improve your revenue work-flow as much as possible.Align Promotion and SalesThe silo mindset, where departments such as marketing and advertising operate as individual units, has become a significant problem in the B2B selling-scape. Forrester research has shown that only 8% of B2B companies have tight marketing and advertising alignment.Deliver the Right Material at the Right TimeSales repetitions invest 30% of their day looking for or developing content – one of the greatest customers of a revenue rep’s time. Yet 70% of promotion content never gets used by revenue.Get SocialThe power of public selling can help revenue forces associate to and engage more wisely with buyers. Sales repetitions can use public social networking in every stage of the revenue process, from social networking and lead generation to customer support. With ideas about prospects such as census, choices, what’s happening at their company, what’s going on in their industry, and where they experience pain points, revenue repetitions can more quickly drive an interesting and significant discussion.Expend in the Proper ToolsWith the aforementioned costs of recruiting and training income repetitions, there is no reason not to obtain their success and keeping them around. Give your income staff the right resources to help them do their job wisely. Sales enablement technologies, such as Knowledge Tree, aim to align marketing processes and goals and then arm income teams with the resources and content to improve income execution and drive income. Sales enablement, by nature, empowers and enables income repetitions to work more effectively. And remember, a more productive income staff means more income is being generated!

While there's no easy or right answer, I can speak from my personal experience. I've sold a lot of shit. From car washes to mortgages. I've studied sales since my manager gave me some Zig Ziglar tapes when I was 13. For the last five years I've worked exclusively with people who make their living from sales. I've trained realtors, loan officers, insurance agents, consultants, roofers and even celebrities. The one thing that many sales people lack is a go to process. When you lack a process to follow, your emotions get in the way. Ego is an emotion too, in this sense. When you have a sales process, and you've followed it 100s of times, you can close in your sleep. You don't have to overthink and you know exactly what to do next. Every single time. When you get on a sales call, there are two sets of fears. Fear from the prospect of getting sold, and fear from the salesperson of losing the sale. Having a process helps evade that fear and shift that fearful energy into a systematic process. Removing the emotions like anxiety which prospects pick up on rather quickly these days. Having a process and improving on that process daily is the thing that has made me a salesman who closes multiple sales daily and has sold millions in products and services. Find a mentor or sales trainer, learn their process, make it your own and master it.

Good sales = Attitude + Aptitude.       Attitude comes naturally but aptitude can be built over time. If       you understand your customer implicitly, understand their needs       and look at how you can meet these needs at each stage of the buying process, then you'll be well on the way to building your       Aptitude and being sales ready.

All the other answers are great, and more about honing the craft of sales. But there is one thing I haven't seen as an answer yet, and is critical to increasing your numbers. Sales Assets. Basically, a sales asset is anything you can set up, or get into place, that reaps dividends over time. If you're in real estate, it's that relationship with a contractor who gives you a lead every two months, or small time developer that has a listing every year. If you're in presentation sales, it's the assistant doing your cold calls so you can pack in more meetings in a month. Lead generating websites, form letters, drip campaigns, etc. The more sales assets you can get in place, the better off you'll be, and you'll see your business scale and grow.

Belief in yourself  that, you are the best person to give the right advise to your clients and potential clients. Belief  in the product or service you offer that, it can serve your client's needs. Always put your customers interest first by knowing the needs of your customers and provide them with solutions. Be a good listener . See yourself as solution provider not sales person. See objections as the first step to closing the sales. Know the In and Out of  the products and services you offer. Know much about your competitors product, services, price, etc. Consider your physical appearance . Don't be afraid to ask for the sales (to close the sales). Read books such as The Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy, The Art of Closing the Sales by Brian Tracy and other sales books.

First of all, you can't just think it and then not do it.   You can't wait for it to just happen.  If your serious, you need to start this very second.  I'm sharing this as a fellow sales person, but from my perspective as a business owner. 1.  Don't tell me, show me.  Numbers don't lie, everything else and your wasting our time. 2.  Pee on your territory.  Claim your accounts and map out a plan to track them and keep in touch with so nobody can take them away.  Monitor other accounts that you want and when they're available, pee on them as well.  Mark your territory from all the other wanna-be sales people. 3. Learn your limitations and walk the lines.  Playing safe is for marketing people. 4.  Know your quota.  Not just this month's number.  Know what you need daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually and know how your tracking against it at all times.  If your quota is $100k and your average deal size is $5k , figure out what it takes to get a minimum of 25 deals per month.  Your not here to reach quota.  Quota is the start, not the end. 5.  Know the top salesperson (even if it's you) and always map out how you can beat them.  Always look up and never look back.  Nobody cares about the person behind you.  That's we give out too salesperson awards. 6. Learn the art of UltraMarathoning.  These crazy people run a few hundred miles to get to a marathon.  Sales is a never ending race.  The longer you remain on top (running), the longer you're best and make the most. 7. Make it your passion.  If the art of closure is not your passion, it won't last. 8. Education - not talking school, we're talking about your customer and their industry, your contact and the decision makers.  The more you know how they tick, the better your odds.  How was your daughter's Birthday? 9. Do homework -  as in theirs.  Why do girls let boys carry their books, because they can...if they say that they can't move forward with the sales process until they write a document... Offer to write it for them...with your own angle of course.  Nobody has time.  The more work you do for them today, they know you will have their back tomorrow. 10.  Elbow grease - you work hard, it's easy, just work harder.  The more you polish, the more your career will shine. 11. Creativity - nobody buys off a price list, they buy solutions to their problems and better ideas than they already have.  View every customer as a puzzle that you need to solve in their own particular way.  The more creative you are, the more you separate yourself from the sales guy that's just reading off a template and mailing it in. 12. Know your competition - never put them down with anything that can't be backed.  Pump them up while creating concern.  It's a good product and they're growing fast.  Their last report stated that their typical deal is $100k+, your deal is $20k, we will give you our top attention. 13. Learn from your losses (and wins) a beg your customers to be honest with you and ask if something was different, could you have earned their business.  If something becomes repetitive here, something needs to change. 14. Listen better - to what they're saying, not what you want or are used to hearing.  Each person will give you clues along the way.  You need to recognize these and bring them up later in the conversation.  People like hearing their own thoughts. 15. Know when to walk away - if it's taking too long, or not lucrative for your company, walk away.  Even if your close.  They may come running back or had their bluff called. 16. Be a good winner/loser - always show class.  Whether it's future business with my company or during your next job, if you ever cross paths again, they will remember you. 17.   Always ask how you can improve and continue to earn their business.  Even if they have nothing, they will appreciate the thought. 18.  Thank customers for their business.  Not just at times when money is changing hands.  Do it when they least expect it.  Get you wife a present for no reason and you're the best.  Your customers are your other wives in your life.  Always show that they're on your mind.

I'm not in sales. However, per Daniel H Pink, we're all in sales (in some form or another). That said, I recently finished Pink's "To Sell is Human" and would recommend it: http://www.danpink.com/books/to-sell-is-human