You can dress the part. You can perform the steps of the sales process prescribed to you in training. You can create proposals with all the bells and whistles. You can lay out all the features, including special discounts. You can be on time, you can take a prospect for lunch, you can outwardly do all the things the consummate sales professional is supposed to do.
You can do all those things and still fail at selling.
Going through the motions will not make you successful. You cannot “fake it 'til you make it” when it comes to selling.
In order to be successful in selling, you must be driven by an intent to sell what is needed by your buyers.
Let's break this down. First you need an intent to sell. That means you are not afraid to sell. It means you believe in the nobility of selling. It means you will do the work necessary to make a sale, including the parts you are least comfortable with-from cold calling to closing.
Additionally, you need to be driven by an internal desire to sell what your buyers need. That means you select prospects with a likelihood of needing your product. If you sell a suite of products, it means you sell the one a buyer needs instead of the one you're getting spiffed on this week. It means you take the time to learn about buyer needs instead of making blanket assumptions.
Selling with intent makes it easier to sell, ensures repeat business and referrals, differentiates you from other sellers and makes it easier to sleep at night knowing you've actually helped your customers.
Going through the motions is exhausting. Your ineffectiveness will erode your confidence and deplete your reserves. No matter how technically proficient you may be at selling, your lack of intent (or a misguided intent) will severely limit your potential.
It's an easy fix if you're amenable to it. Reset your starting point, and aim for making sales that genuinely benefit each buyer. This one little thing changes everything.