Sales 401
A key point taught in Salesmanship 101 (OK, maybe it’s in 102) is that people buy with emotion and justify with logic. So, the saleman’s trick is to find out what the customer’s emotional needs and wants are and then provide it - or, more correctly, articulate how the product they are selling provides it. The reason salespeople have such a bad “rep” in our society is because bad salespeople make themselves so pesky, you “buy” their product just to get rid of them. Unforunately, the minute they walk out the door, chances are excellent you are on the phone cancelling the order. They will certainly never get your repeat or referral business. As long as they continue bullying people into “buying”, they will continue having to look for new “victims”.
The BEST salespeople, in fact, don’t actually “sell”, at least not the way most people think of selling - pitching your product with such force and persuasion that the customer can’t help but be ”sold”. The truth is people LOVE to buy and HATE to be “sold”. What the best salespeople truly understand - and why they love it so - is that “salesmanship” is actually relationship. Relationship takes time to develop and nurture. Relationship means that the salesperson actually LISTENS to the customer and cares enough to provide a real solution. Only the very best salesperson will understand that occasionally their product doesn’t solve the customer’s need - and will candidly admit it.
Done right, sales is truly a noble profession that is not only financially lucrative, but, more importantly, emotionally rewarding. As I used to tell my salespeople, sales is a great career: we get paid - and paid well! - to become people’s friends. And what could be better than that?
“All Things With Exuberance!”
mary!
