Think about the last medium-sized to large purchase you made. Did you do a lot of research before hand? Did you shop around and end up buying from the store that offered you the lowest price? Or did you base your final buying decision not on price but on the personality of the sales professional you worked with?

How you buy says a lot about how you sell. More importantly, if you have challenges moving your customers and prospects through a sales cycle, the cause may be in how you travel through your own sales cycles.

Being a Prospect

How do you feel when a sales rep calls you or engages you in a conversation? Do you put up your guards and think that the rep is not to be trusted? Do you try to avoid sales people until you absolutely need to talk with one? If you answered "yes" or even "sometimes," understand that you probably assume that your prospects and customers feel the same way about you when dealing with you in a sales role.

If you find sales professionals to be the enemy when you are buying something, don't be at all surprised if others feel the same about you when you have your sales professional hat on.

Value V Price

When you are considering making a purchase, what is your final determining factor? If it all comes down to price, you probably find yourself losing a lot of deals in your sales career to lower priced dealers.

If instead you look for value and which company, business or dealer will provide the best training, support, service or post-sale follow up, you probably are focused on showing value to your customers.

The difference in your mindset is a tremendous one and is often the difference between a successful sales professional and one who struggles to succeed at meeting their assigned quota.

Fully, Partially or Not at all Honest

When you are a customer or prospect, how honest are you with the sales rep? If you are not fully honest you probably assume that your customers are also not fully honest with you. This creates tension that can drive a sales opportunity to an early grave.

The more honest you are when you are in the buying position, the more you will trust your customers. The old saying that "buyers are liars" was certainly started by someone who was challenged with honesty when they were making the buying decision.

Are You a Turtle or a Rabbit?

Nearly every sales professional loves it when their customers make accurate and timely buying decisions. Conversely, few things drive a sales rep more crazy than working with a customer that takes seemingly forever to make a decision.

If you are the type of buyer who explores every possibility and doesn't make a decision until every one of your possible objections are resolved, you are unlikely to have the ability to move a customer more quickly through a sales cycle.

While no one likes to feel "pushed," a sales professional should know that the longer it takes for a customer to make a decision, the more likely it is that the final decision made will be one that finds you losing the sale.

Waffler or Decision Maker?

Can you make a buying decision or do you waffle between moving forward, checking with others for their advice or just needing to "think about it?" If you have trouble making a decision, you probably won't be very good at helping your customers make a decision.

People buy on emotion and justify with logic. With that being said, your job as a sales professional is to transfer the emotion you hold to your product or service to your customer. Doing so better enables them to make a decision and removes the fear that prevents the ability to make a decision.