I have said this before, and I’ll state it again. I would much rather be in direct sales throughout good times, even more so on occasions like these. The reason? Businesses often hire salespeople because sales staff are an asset, not a legal responsibility. In other words, they bring in income to a company and don’t symbolize a cost to a company. No matter what you think of the sales occupation as a whole and salespeople mainly, the entire
program would collapse without salespeople. If every salesperson took a month or maybe more off at the same time, would the actual situation that we are currently in seem like the Roaring Twenties? When I mention this for you to groups that I speak to, individuals groups that are not sales connected, I can always see many people in the audience roll their eyes and whisper a thing to the person sitting close to them. Shame on them. That they don’t get it.
I possess people to say to me, very well, We don’t need sales agents in my company, we will sell our product or service over the internet. Very well, Really? When I mention directly to them someone ( a salesperson in their own right ) should write the ad copy that really must be used to generate prospects because of their company, they just look at me quizzically. I’m going to give you the fact that most of the awful rap salespeople acquire is caused by harmful sales agents and the industry’s lack of OK PR regarding how crucial salespeople are to this economy, to capitalism itself. Without salespeople, it could be lights out. If you don’t believe it, you might want to refer back to capitalism 101.
Regarding harmful sales agents, let me clarify my concept of the same. I am not discussing those that stretch the truth, deceived prospects about what their service or product will do, and things of this nature. These are not sales reps; they are liars, con artists, and the infamous Snake Oil Sales staff. Hence the tongue-within-cheek statement, ” All the best salespeople are in jail. ” I am speaking of all those salespeople that are sincere, complex working, and noble individuals but who have not mastered their craft. In my opinion that sales are an art and science. In addition, I believe that it is a craft similar to others. Those sales should be learned and mastered.
Training #1: It’s all about individuals, not commissions.
Lesson #2: It’s about pulling, not pushing and pressuring. Deep into this later.
There are many product sales systems in the marketplace that businesses have been using for years. The issue is that most of them use methods that come across as ruthless, manipulative, combative, and adversarial. And while I’m still an enormous fan of sales training companies such as Zig Ziglar along with Tom Hopkins, the times, they can be a-changin’. The fact is increasing numbers of those having tried sales eventually in their lives were not confident with what I like to call very well adversarial selling “, leaving the sales profession using trepidation and skepticism to sales in general. And everyone is now your prospect. It May shame because many of these persons, if they had been trained in a softer way to sell, have been superstars. If they could exhibit a selling system that had been precisely opposite of what they thought sales were.
If you’re in income, many of your prospects have tried selling by themselves at some point in their careers. And once you try to use traditional income methods with them, they know very well what you’re doing, making for a lot of very tense selling. Even when you use these techniques with the finest intentions ( that you just always should ), they will typically still feel as if you are seeking to
manipulate them. That is when an extraordinary adversarial selling situation is established. And how objections and revenue resistance is generated. In this particular day and age, it’s about producing relationships first. More importantly, and you should never hear this inside traditional sales training, it is actually about finding out if a customer is to be made before wanting to make the sale. In other words, get rid of yourself from the outcome ( making a sale ) and 1st focus on if there is indeed a customer to be made. And now I’m not talking about just being approved on the money aspect, if you may. I am talking about having a real fascination with
whether your product or service genuinely fills a need for your prospective client. Why waste your moment with people who can’t, are just not, or shouldn’t buy just what you’re selling? Yes, an individual read that right. You will find prospects who will be better dished up by not buying your current product or service. Never heard that will in your Johnny Salesperson letters course, did you? Yet it’s a fact. Sometimes, your offering is not the best option for your prospect. And the most incredible thing we can do for the marketplace, ourselves, and most importantly, the prospective lead is to bow out with dignity.
So yes, there are times when they have in a prospect’s best interest. You fold your tent, express gratitude, and move on. I’ve astonished more than a few prospects by simply telling them that my presentation would not be an excellent healthy for their organization or problem at this time. They then tend to look at me in disbelief. In addition to guessing what happens. I get calls from good friends and associates of these identical prospects. In other words, a salesperson’s best friend, referrals. Why? I was mainly honest, and they learned that they were dealing with a man of integrity, not anyone trying to make a sale at all costs. The good thing about referrals coming from prospects that you do this with is that your credibility will certainly not be questioned. The prospect you have been honest with has sold your image and credibility before!
It’s called Discussion Selling, and we educate everyone in our organization. Incidentally, it’s not my invention; Michael Oliver designed it. I teach it.
Many people are not interested in a revenue career because they are not at ease with traditional selling methods and techniques. Many of these individuals joined our organization and have attained tremendous success using discussion-based selling. The apparent query is, why?
The simple response is that it’s a selling method designed to open up communication. Once that is accomplished, any dialogue can genuinely end up being started. The prospect immediately can feel that the salesperson is concerned with the situation, not just a commission. And since of this, there is no tension engaged as there almost always is traditional selling. Without stress, a dialogue can be produced, not a sales presentation. And also, yes, you may very well realize that there is no sale to be produced, and you will exit gracefully. To do so, you’ll have done a, yourself and the subsequent sales rep that the prospect talks using a considerable favor. The added benefit is that your telephone will start ringing more often. From those who have already been sold on your ethics. People who most likely need your current what you’re offering.
Thus consider starting or having back into a career in revenue. This is not your father’s revenue profession. Selling is no longer everything you think it is. It’s a new daytime and a new way.
In your success.
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