By Laureen Quick (USA)

For most people in business, sales is a word fraught with emotional contradictions. We love it when we close a sale and we hate it when we have to “do” sales.   And yet sales is simply an interactive process that involves seven key steps and a set of skills that can be learned.

The selling process involves:

  1. Developing leads and referrals
  2. Making ongoing connections
  3. Identifying and articulating problems based on client needs
  4. Presenting and offering solutions
  5. Closing the sale
  6. Fulfilling orders
  7. Soliciting client or customer feedback

At a very basic level, sales require three foundational skills:

  1. Resiliency—the ability to bounce back from rejection.
  2. Relationship—the ability to quickly establish and maintain a personal connection with others.
  3. Reframing—the ability to reframe isolated and/or short-term problems into strategic issues that require comprehensive solutions.

Source: iCN Issue 9 (Sales Coaching); pages 09-10

About Laureen Quick

Laureen Quick is a Business Coach & Consultant for The Transformational Journey operating out of Boise, Idaho. In this role, Laureen works with small business owners to transform themselves, their lives and their businesses.

As a Coach, Laureen guides her clients through the process of personal transformation using the metaphor of the Hero’s Journey as a road map.  She believes that life is a series of transformations and that the process of transformation can be a joyful experience. As a Business Consultant, Laureen works with small business owners to transform their businesses through branding, engagement marketing and the leadership fundamentals of running a business (i.e. strategy, financial management, business development, etc). She is committed to helping her clients build a successful and profitable business that can become a legacy to their families for generations to come.