Salespeople tend to operate in their own personal zone. Much of this stems from the competitive nature of being in an office where everyone wants to achieve recognition by selling more than anyone else on the team.
But, just suppose as a salesperson or entrepreneur, your service has little recognition or acceptance, due to the value not being well understood. How would you proceed? Secrecy and competitiveness will not help you gain market share. Something needs to change.
A better approach is to consider collaborating with teammates and competitors. Understand that if you are having difficulty, most likely those in your field are experiencing the same. Collaborating with your competitors is a highly unusual idea, but when done well, will work to your favor.
Consider combining forces to create articles, blogs, and mini posts on the benefits and value the service will provide your prospective clientele. Include ideas of how other services may enhance the usage of your offering. By leveraging your combined connections, how many more people do you believe you will be able to reach? Combining forces everywhere, in particular online, is a powerful strategy.
Offer to get the ball rolling on the new project. Ask your collaborators for their insights on how to approach the market. Obtain their perspectives on value and benefits. Take the best of all the input and outline what you wish to get across to the public. And then create a campaign together that will turn heads.
It is the extended reach that receives the attention of many. With your newly formed team working synergistically, your marketing effort will turn powerful in the marketplace. There will be enough business to go around and everyone working in the collaborative effort will win. And after all, this is the model for the ideal sale where everyone wins.
By being of the mindset to initiate collaboration, you not only take the leadership position but also witness greatly improved results. You will have more than reached your goal by helping your teammates. During the process, you just might find future joint venture partners and friends in the making.
The next time you find your business in the doldrums, research what your counterparts are doing and how they are doing it. Are their results better than yours? Is it possible to approach them to have a candid conversation? When you are able to find like-minded peers, who value insights of others, you will have found new potential partners. Being open to observe and learn from everyone around you, while taking in the good and the bad, will point you to the better direction and possible partnership.
Reaching out to help others and yourself may turn out to be the beginning of your journey to improved business. As the first project appears to take off, create complementary projects with those who wish to continue together. Your personal brand will blossom too as others come to seek your guidance. It’s quite possible that the meeting of the minds will produce an entirely new business with you appointed as CEO. Your final destination will be the Smooth Sale!
