How to Be a Master in Sales

“Sales master.”

“Salesmaster.”

“Master in sales.”

No matter how you spin it, that sure does have a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

We think so too. But there’s something else you have to take into account when you want to learn how to master sales. In fact, there are several things you have to take into account.

At the end of the day, it is possible to become a sales master. It’s gonna happen. The thing is, though, you still have to work for it. It will not happen if you think one productive Monday morning:

“Gee. I really like being in sales, and I really like the feeling of success and growth. I’m going to become a sales master. Nobody can stop me.”

Thinking and doing are two very different things. But today, we’re going to show you how to do.

Have you ever heard terms like “sale masters,” and wondered what that’s all about? Do you need some sort of a master’s degree in sales, or degree in sales in general?

It’s not really a matter of that. So let’s talk about what it is a matter of.

How Long Will it Take to Master Sales?

Are you a business owner, or sales team leader at your company?

If you are, you want sales reps who establish themselves as masters in sales. Yet, the question of how long it will take to accomplish this might be an unclear one for you.

Let’s discuss the process and timeline of onboarding sales reps.

First, you have to expand their knowledge on the following fronts:

Businesses your customers work for. (Includes their industry, customers and markets.)
Your customers’ pain points, and how you can solve those pain points with your unique solutions.
What your products and services are, and how you can turn their features into benefits for your customers.
Your specific marketplace.
Company information, like your value proposition and any relevant company policy.
All there is to know about your competitors, and how you beat them.
Differentiation, relative to your marketplace.
Delivery method of your products and services.
Your individual company playbooks.
Tech stack, and how to use it.

That’s a lot of information, we know. But the entire point is to turn each sales rep into a sales master who is prepared, competent and exceeds expectations when it comes to selling. That process takes work, it takes time and it takes the right tools and support.

Rain Sales Training asked 423 sales leaders a couple questions to figure out how long it takes to:

Initially onboard a new sales rep…
And turn those reps into salesmaster associates.

The results are in.

On average, it takes three months to prepare a new rep for interacting with customers and potential buyers. It takes nine months for them to be competent in their sales performance. It takes 15 months to turn your new rep into a master of sales and marketing.

You can, however, cut that timeframe in half when you adopt a training program that focuses on creating masters in marketing and sales.

Who is the Best Salesperson in the World?

Sometimes, the best course of action when you want to create master sales reps is to look at the pros.

Who are they? Why do so many people think of them as the best salespeople in the world? What did they do to earn that title?

Let’s explore the answers to those questions right now.

Dale Carnegie

This name might sound familiar to you. If it doesn’t, you’ve got some reading to do.

Dale Carnegie was born into a life of farming in Missouri, with a father who had to work tirelessly to make ends meet.

Carnegie thus took advantage of a gap in the market that he saw firsthand. To start out his career as an ultimate sales master, he began to sell correspondence courses and products to other ranchers.

His success here took him all the way to The Big Apple. Once in New York City, he catered to entry-level salespeople with his classes on public speaking. He also wrote and published a book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. This book highlights how people in sales can transform themselves into effective communicators while building a healthy team.

Carnegie also stands out as a sales master by balancing his professional and personal life, and teaching others how to do the same.

Joe Girard

Joe Girard is the ultimate master in marketing and sales when it comes to selling cars. He had more humble beginnings as a door-to-door newspaper subscription salesman when he was a young boy.

Those humble beginnings landed him the title of sales master, though. He discovered that the higher the number of doorbells he rang, the higher the number of dollars in his back pocket. This led him to uncover the idea of sales following a law of averages, which he translated to his more elite career later on.

David Ogilvy

When it comes to sales and marketing masters, David Ogilvy stands out as the real-life Don Draper of advertising.

Ogilvy has a similar origin story to that of Joe Girard. He started out as a door-to-door salesman of kitchen stoves. As he sold more and more, his company requested that he author a selling manual for other sales reps on his team. This manual is still available today, with tons of invaluable selling advice.

Erica Feidner

You might think of pianos, like Steinway, as a hard sell. They are. This is why piano saleswoman Erica Feidner is so legendary. So legendary, in fact, that she sold $40 million in Steinway pianos before her retirement.

She appealed to consumers’ desire to become masters of music while she grew increasingly more of a sales master. She used techniques like making her customers feel as though they could not live without a certain piano. This feeling came at the risk of spending too much without enough space in their home. It worked anyway.

Zig Ziglar

Zig Ziglar established himself as not only a sales master, but a master of vocabulary in sales. He now offers a sales master class in the form of motivational speaking.

Here are his cornerstones of successful selling:

Be picky when it comes to your sales setting in order to surpass quotas.
Make your journey of learning sales one that lasts a lifetime.
Manifest success by dedicating yourself to constant motivation.

7 Expert Tips on How to Be a Sales Master

Those were the experts; each one a sales master who you can follow in the footsteps of. But how do you do that? Where do you start?

At the beginning. Let’s begin with these seven pro tips to turn yourself, and each member of your team, into a sales master of your own.

1. Do Not Sell Out of Your Pocket

“Selling out of your own pocket” is the lingo for when you assume each potential customer is in the same (or worse) financial situation as you are.

You reinforce this idea when you sell as such.

When someone expresses interest in buying from your company, something led them to express that interest. They have the means to purchase, more often than not.

This mindset leads to missed opportunities. You are not upselling, cross-selling or selling as much as you can right off the bat.

From the start, act like every customer you talk to has all the money in the world to do away with. This puts the ball in their court, to either say “no,” or also believe they have money burning a hole in their pocket.

2. Keep Everything Well Organized

Say it with us: You. Need. Organization.

Why do you think CEOs hire executive assistants, secretaries and an administrative team? For the very reason of organization.

As a sales rep, you do not have that level of duty that requires an assistant. The responsibility of organization falls on you, and it’s one you’ve gotta take seriously.

Time-block for the following week on Fridays. Allow room for things to go wrong. Also time-block during the day as necessary. Take the time you need for personal matters. Make to-do lists, in order of priority.

3. Adapt to Change

Change happens. Change happens even more in the world of sales. If you do not learn to move with it, or “go with the flow,” as the cool kids say, it moves on without you.

Use your best communication efforts when you feel overwhelmed with all the change happening. Accept that sometimes you need help, and never be afraid to ask for it. Time-blocking plays a big role here, too.

4. Experiment With Selling Bundles

Think of Erica Feidner again here. What does she do?

Feidner switches up the narrative to make people believe they need something. You can emulate her success if you sell in bundles. In other words, if you sell more than the product your customer came to you to buy.

Say that you sell kitchenware. Your customer is ready to buy a cast-iron skillet. You can bundle a cast-iron cleaning kit with the skillet for a lower price. This is more appealing to buyers than having to buy the cleaning kit later on, at full price.

5. Be Dependable and Analytical

You have to establish trust. Without trust, your customers do not want to buy from you at all, let alone continue purchasing from you in the future.

How do you turn into that dependable person for your customers? By being analytical, for one. Analyze what your customers say they need and expect from you. Then, analyze what they are not saying, but you know that they also need and expect.

Identify pain points right away, and help them overcome those pain points with your product or service. Also make each conversation with your customers more, well, conversational. Care about their lives, and make a point to build a relationship with them in each conversation.

6. Do Not Drop Your Prices

This tip is like the concept of not selling out of your own pocket.

If someone is hesitant about buying from you because your prices are too high, is this buyer the right fit for your company? Odds are, no.

This does not mean you should eliminate them altogether as a prospect. Maybe right now they don’t have room in their budget to buy. Next month, or a couple months from now, that could be a different story.

The bottom line is that you don’t want to sacrifice the money you deserve from a sale. The prices are what they are for a reason.

7. Always Accept Responsibility

Most important of all is the concept that you must accept responsibility and take accountability for your actions. You are your own sales master. The sooner you learn that, the sooner you start to see the results you want.

When you mess up, that’s okay. You messed up. Stop placing blame on others for your mistakes. If you want more money, make more money. If you want to increase your customer retention, do it. Put in the work and reap the rewards.

Did You Know That There’s a Sales Master Right Under Your Nose?

To get a sales-master job, you sometimes need a sales-master class. You need this type of class from a sales master themselves.

You don’t have to search very long, either. Because you have one. Right here.

Hi. We’re the expert team at Selling Revolution. Glad to meet you!

If you want more tips like the ones you read today, head to our blog. If you want helpful resources for selling, check out our featured media page.

If you want more high-quality leads that bring you a higher conversion rate, and sales-master training to match, book a call with Selling Revolution today. We can’t wait to bring you the success you deserve.