As a young boy my father used to tell me stories about selling cars for the Ford Motor company. He taught me most of the things I know about sales, including a word of advice from a man of iconic stature in the business world. One of the biggest things my father learned at Ford was from one of the greatest industrialist of the 20th century, Lee Iacocca. My father recounted Lee Iacocca explaining to him, during a salesman's training session, to sell your self, the house, and the product. What does it mean, sell your self, the house, and the product? At the conclusion of this article you will know exactly what it means and you will never miss another sale again.

There is a key to every sale. Sometimes it's price. At other times it's irrefutable value. But most of the time sales are made because of a persons comfort level with the salesperson as they walk away knowing they were treated right. When sales are blown it is often because a person was too pushy. They didn't offer the person anything they were looking for much less take them into consideration. The person was just a piece of meat in the salespersons eyes, another fast buck. At least, that's the way the customer felt. In order to succeed in sales, a person must learn to hurdle other people's built in defense mechanism against being sold something.

People have natural defense mechanisms built in to resist being sold things. We all get spam emails trying to sell us one thing or another. You are almost always solicited for credit cards, perfume, cell phones and a host of other items you don't need every time you step outside the confines of your home. You've probably been approached by the child trying to sell candy for their fund raiser or the beggar in the street asking for change. More often than not your natural inclination is to resist giving into these sales pitches and refuse to part with your hard earned cash. Why should you part with your money? Yes, why should you part with your money? If a person bought everything that they were offered then they would be poor in short order. So how do you sell your product when people are always resisting you? Therein lies the rub.

Everyone has an Achilles heel. At some point anyone will say yes to anything. As a salesperson it is your job to hunt down that Achilles heel and attack it with all your might. Don't go attacking your customers just yet. Only fools rush in. You have to know your buyer just as a hunter knows their prey. This brings us to the first point, "SELL YOURSELF."

How do I sell myself? You do it quite easily. You sell yourself the same way you would be a parent, friend, lover, pen-pal or anything else that requires social interaction. Engage the customer in a conversation. Ask them how their day went. What kind of job does your customer have? Where is your customer from? What made them interested in a new (fill in the blank)? Does your customer watch sports? Do they read? What's their favorite website? If you prime a person with good questions they will start to talk.

A good salesperson is an excellent conversationalist. An excellent conversationalist is a great listener. When your customer begins talking, you shut up and listen. Pay attention to every word they are saying. As the customer talks chime in from time to time and relate to what the person is saying. If the person has gone beyond casual conversation and into relating some type of story then that is a bonus point for you. Let them tell their story. The more time they spend talking with you, the more likely that they are to buy something. When you talk with someone, you feel that you are getting to know them. Why wouldn't we want buy something from our friend, especially something we want? Everybody wants to support their friend. So become your customer's friend by talking with them and getting to know them. Thus, you will be well on your way to making many more sales and expanding your network of clients.

You can talk till the sun burns out, but if people don't feel comfortable with everything involved in a deal then they won't bite. So it's up to you to let them know everything is on the up and up. You can do that by "selling the house." What is selling the house? Selling the house is telling people about the company or establishment that you work for. Let people know who owns the place. Tell them how long the place has been operating. Tell them famous people who have bought from the company before. Tell them of the exploits of other workers. Explain to them about how it feels like a big family (you may have to embellish a little here.) and how long you've been working there. Tell them about all the great attributes that brought you to work for (fill in the blank company). When you let someone know everything about who they are buying from it levels the playing field in their eyes. They aren't buying from BIG GIANT COMPANY anymore. They are buying from you, their friend, at the store/firm they like to go to because they know a lot about it.

Lastly you must sell the product. Why do you sell the product last? You sell the product last because it is understood. Often times a person knows all the great features of a product. Usually a product doesn't need to be sold. It's your personality that is for sale. People are buying into what you have to offer. So now it's your turn. Serve up all the information that you know about a product and then some. Selling a product is not just about knowing your own product, but it is also about knowing the competitions product and how the person will benefit from buying your product instead of theirs. Now you don't have to slander another company or salesperson to do this. Often times, when you slander someone it becomes more damaging to yourself than helpful because it is interpreted by the listener as jealousy. When you display how knowledgeable you are about a subject as why a person is getting something that will impact their lives positively they will always chose you over the next person because of how honest and helpful your insight was to them. They may even go so far as to recommend other people because of your great wisdom and insight. Display your knowledge. That is always one of the best ways to sell a product.

When all else fails, let the customer win. Letting the customer win means giving a person the perception that they got more out of the deal than you did. Let's take an example. Someone works at a computer store. They get paid commission for every item they sell. Let's say a person walks in and they are very interested in a new Apple Laptop but they want a discount. The salesperson can't give them a discount. The manager won't either. So what do they do? Most times a poor sales person will just let the person walk out the door. Don't be that salesperson. Figure up your commission on the sale. Let's say you'll make $200 from the sale. Tell them that if they buy you'll throw in a $20 gift card and a pack of blank CD's on you. Who can resist free? The total cost of that would be around $30. Can you space $30 to make $170? Make it a point to tell the customer you're giving them these things out of your pocket. They'll appreciate the extra mile and they'll feel like they have you under their control. The customer will feel like they got more than what they paid for. Everybody wins. You'll make a real $170 when the customer purchases instead of nothing at all if the customer walks out. People love good will and good faith efforts. If you sell yourself, the house, and the product you'll never have to take it that far.