Selling from a position of power sounds simple, it sounds almost expected; however, years of experience has shown me that the majority of sales professionals are too intimidated to sell from a position of power, or they lack the confidence and knowledge. What does it take to sell from a position of power? I broke it down into 5 essential tools. Thoroughly understand your product or service - Be an expert. Know your competition, strengths and weaknesses. Know your customer's needs. Understand the personality of your customer. Take a stand - Be Ready to Walk Away!

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1. Thoroughly understand your product or service - Be an expert.
   If you want to become a top selling professional you must learn everything you possibly can about your product. Just becoming familiar with your product is not enough; you must know every aspect about the company you represent and that includes all aspects of the product. Get involved and understand the production, back office operations, support, everything about your company so that any question a client asks, you can respond with certainty and clarity. This builds confidence with your client and shows them that you understand not just your product but you understand business and how it operates and how it can apply to them.
2. Know your competition, strengths and weaknesses.
   Knowing the competition is essential, but truly understanding the competition, their value proposition and market position can be a strong tool. I never mention competition while selling; however, if my prospect brings up the competition, I'll always know how I compete and in what areas I'm stronger and more effective. If you know the competition, you never have to mention them, you should be eliminating them without mentioning them as you talk about your strengths and target their weaknesses. Knowledge is power. Understanding how a business runs and how executives think is essential to your success. If you have the knowledge and experience, you have the power in the selling situation. Everyone talks about "team selling" and "relationship selling." I believe selling from a position of power and knowledge to be the most effective method. Building relationships are important, but when you are confident in your product and can show your client the true value you can bring to his business, the relationship will develop based on trust.
3. Know your customer's needs.
   Understanding the customer is the most important aspect in any selling situation. The more you know about your client, their business practice, their history, their successes and failures, the more power you have. If you can walk into a prospect and already have the knowledge of what has been successful and what has failed for them in the past, you have a strong position to conduct your selling. In order to truly understand the client: do your homework, do the research and don't be afraid to ask the hard questions. Understanding why something failed in the past can be painful for the client, but you will be able to show them that you understand and want to avoid the same mistakes. Understanding the client means understanding their business as well. My best sales people over the past 25 years have always had a true interest in their clients, they really cared about the success of their clients and they took the time to understand the business. If you can relate to your client on a business level it takes away the "sales person" and makes the deal a true business proposition.
4. Understand the personality of your customer.
   Personality profiling is a skill that can make good sales people into great sales professionals. Many books and training classes have been developed around understanding personality types and selling to specific personalities. This is a skill that cannot be developed in one class or training session. This is a skill that needs to be developed over years of practice. Developing your craft as a sales professional should be a never ending endeavor. You can search the internet and find a million training programs and seminars about sales techniques and tools, but I believe the number 1 tool for the most successful sales person is understanding personalities! Selling to the personality, understanding their buying decisions, their personal needs are essential to success. Only the best sales people really work at their craft. Sales is not just about talking or buying lunch and golf outings. Sales is about understanding your client, their personality and what drives them to make decisions.
5. Take a stand - Be Ready to Walk Away!
   Be prepared to walk away! If you value your product and believe in what you sell, you need to have the mentality that what I have to sell is almost too good for the client and I'm allowing them to buy it, but they need to convince me. Strange to think about sales and having the client convince you, but in order to sell with power, your mindset must be that your product is so valuable they may not be worthy! If you take the stand that you will only sell to quality clients who really understand the value you are bringing to them it will change the way you approach sales. You no longer look at prospects the same way; you are now evaluating the prospects differently, to see if they qualify. This gives you the position of power in the sale.

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