Anyone in business for themselves--an entrepreneur--is by definition a gambler and a natural-born salesperson. This holds true for private lenders. It takes guts to be a dynamic salesperson, just as it takes guts to approach investors, build capital, stay on top of the private lending trade and the changes that occur, know the laws governing private lending, and hustle like there's no tomorrow to keep a private lending practice in the black.
As a private lender, do you consider yourself a salesperson as well? In this article from Spiro titled 5 Signs That You're a Natural Born Salesperson, it states that "some people truly do possess the unique mix of traits that make them a perfect fit for sales." The following signs will help you discover if you are a natural-born salesperson:
1. You’re naturally optimistic
Success in sales oftentimes means overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds, and the only type of people able to do that are those who are optimists by nature. If you don’t believe that tomorrow is going to be even better than today, sales probably isn’t a good fit for you. If you’re always looking at the bright side of every situation, you have one of the traits of a natural salesperson.
2. You don’t take “no” for an answer
It takes a special type of person to keep pushing through after someone tells them “no.” All of the best salespeople see “no” as just a starting point for when the actual selling happens, so anyone who’s overly sensitive to rejection won’t make a great natural salesperson. If you spent your childhood successfully overcoming your teacher’s objections, maybe sales are right for you.
3. You’re very competitive
If you don’t thrive on competition, you’re not a natural-born salesperson. Not only are you competing against others in your market, but you’re also competing against your coworkers for the chance to be at the top of the board. Many former athletes end up in sales for that very reason. Sales allow you to thrive in a competitive environment, and if you need that feeling in your life, sales are it.
4. You’re motivated by money
Natural-born salespeople are very clearly motivated by making money. To put it bluntly: if you don’t want to make as much money as you possibly can, you definitely shouldn’t be working in sales. People born to sell have a natural inclination to aggressively pursue their money goals.
5. You can understand people’s motivations
This is one of the hardest skills to learn, and those to whom it comes naturally have the most valuable skill that you need to be a successful salesperson. If you can determine what is the driving force behind someone’s behavior while you’re talking to them, you’ll know what it will take to convince them to close the deal. This is why the best salespeople spend their time listening rather than talking. If you’ve always naturally been able to sense the motivations of others, and been great at reading people, you’re truly a natural-born salesperson.
The Rules of Thumb blog from MoneyThumb bets that as a private lender you recognize yourself in the above text. To help you even further, we would like to suggest you download this free toolkit from The Rain Group. In our research, they are coming out on top as one of the best sites to help salespeople excel at what they do.
Here is a description from The Rain Group's website covering what you can expect from this free downloadable toolkit:
7 Resources to Help You Master Sales Negotiations
55% of leaders don't believe their sellers have the negotiation skills needed to consistently win new business. In fact, 6 out of 10 sellers cave on price when faced with pressure from buyers, leading them to lose credibility and accept unfavorable deals. Margins slip and customer satisfaction declines.
But we know from our research that Top-Performing Sales Negotiators are 12.5x more likely to be satisfied with the outcome of negotiations, 3.1x more likely to achieve target pricing, and 3.5x more likely to be extremely confident participating in negotiations.
Leading confident, collaborative, and positive negotiations is possible. And it starts with the resources in our free Mastering Sales Negotiations Toolkit.
The toolkit includes:
- Ebook: 6 Essential Rules of Sales Negotiation: The best negotiators consistently excel in 6 key areas. Take a deep dive into these areas with examples, scenarios, and more on how to lead successful sales negotiations.
- Article: How to Manage a Sales Negotiation to Your BATNA: Learn to determine your Best Alternative To A Negotiated Agreement.
- Checklist: Actively Manage a Sales Negotiation to Your BATNA: Once you know your BATNA, use this checklist to stay on track so you know when it's in your best interest to walk away.
- Checklist: Planning to Win Sales Negotiations: Use this checklist to arm yourself with everything you need to negotiate favorable deals before discussions begin.
- Framework: 6 Essential Rules of Sales Negotiation: A printable framework to reference as you face negotiations big or small.
- Checklist: Tips to Build Value in the Sales Negotiation: Get to the heart of your buyer's challenges and how to solve them with this checklist.
- Reference: Tips to Trade! Not Cave: Use these tips to avoid making unfavorable concessions during negotiations.
You’ll learn:
- How to apply the 6 Essential Rules of Sales Negotiation
- Who should go first with the price
- The 2 keys to unlocking creativity and value in a negotiation
- A mantra you can use to avoid caving under buyer pressure
- How to trade for value and decrease concession size
- How to increase buyer desire to come to an agreement, and do so with you
In truth, we are all negotiators in life. Some people just find their niche sooner than others, like a successful private lender. Please take a second to share this blog post on your social media page so your business peers can benefit from the information.
Leave a reply