When you're first exposed to a sales idea you learn at the conceptual level. This idea may sound pretty good. You know it has worked for other people so you presume it should work for you. Then when you try it you may find that what has worked for other people doesn't work the same way for you. That's because you aren't other people you're you and what worked so well for someone else may not match up with who you are and your strengths and motivators.



You aren't a failure just because the idea didn't work exactly the same way for you as described. It does mean that you'll have to take the concept and learn how to adapt that concept to fit your particular situation and your particular attitudes and skills. At this point all you know for sure is that you're having trouble translating a concept into actions.

It's easier for you to translate sales concepts when you're very clear about who you want to attract and what you do. You may think that sounds like a duh, but I'll bet if you're currently having problems that your problems start here. You see you need to be very clear about specifically who you want to sell to so you can learn enough about those people to know exactly what they want and why. Then you need to be able to communicate to them in terms of the big thing they want to get when talking about what you do.

It's impossible to convey your value to prospects without this underlying understanding. Your prospects don't care about products they want to know about how to get their desired outcomes. So, never talk to them in terms of products because when you do you lose them. Avoid using a prepared presentation provided to you by the source of your products because the focus of those presentations is the product not the prospect. And that makes it very hard for you to have a selling conversation that results in sales.

Remember you want focus on the prospect not on what you want. Whenever you learn about a new selling concept ask yourself how you would feel if you were on the receiving end of this idea. If you don't think you'd feel comfortable you won't feel comfortable when you try to translate that concept into action.

When you try it you'll see your prospect's negative or uncomfortable reaction, and then you'll know for sure it just isn't right for you and your situation the way you've implemented it. So what do you do, trash the idea? No, recognize you don't have it right yet because when you do it will feel like you and the prospect are in step moving together to the closed transaction like an army marching in cadence.

What can you do to adapt this sales concept to better fit you and your prospect? Usually there are parts of your prepared sales presentation that have value and that you can effectively work into your sales conversation at the appropriate time, but unless you're holding a group sales presentation don't use prepared presentations. Instead learn how to translate selling concepts into selling conversations. When you're doing all the talking or following a script you aren't having a selling conversation. A good selling conversation involves having the prospect do most of the talking while you guide them along the path to the end they want.