5 Questions Sales People Should Ask Themselves?

There are two sides to every story, two sides of a coin, and two ways to face the day (good or bad). There are always the prophets of doom and the cynics who will be happy to lead their followers through long periods of drought and famine. When an unfortunate individual starts blaming his own failures on others, and on conditions over which he has no control, he can usually forget about achieving his goals.

There are good times and bad times, but at all times there are sales that are made and sales that are lost. Sales leaders prove every day that you are not only capable, but excel as sales professionals. Sales professionals know that nothing can hold back the motivated individual who has an excellent product to sell.

“You will always get what you want, if you help enough people get what they want.” Zig Ziglar

There's a lot of airplay right now about social media and whether salespeople should use it as a method to drive sales revenue. The answer: maybe! Start with the following below to find out.

Salespeople should ask these five social-media selling questions:

1. "Do my potential buyers use social media?" Depending on your product, service, or industry, the answer may be yes or no.
2. "If my buyers do use social media, where do they spend their time?" On blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, or forums? You must ensure that you fish where your buyers swim.
3. "Considering other sales tactics (email, trade shows, calls), will using social media produce an equal or better return on investment?" A salesperson's time is extremely valuable, so you must spend time on the activities that will deliver the best results.
4. "Do I have the skills and knowledge to leverage social media?" Selling is a process and has related best practices, as do blogging and tweeting. If you plan to use social media, you must understand "the how" first.
5. "Am I ready to commit to using social media on an ongoing basis?" Tweeting once a month adds no value. Starting a blog, writing two posts, then not writing again for months can do more harm than good. It's a good idea to observe social media before participating so you understand the investment requirements.

Flip your coin this morning and ask yourself, “Do I really want to get what I want today?”