We are all selling all the time regardless of your job title
Everything is sales, getting your kids to tidy their room? You have to sell it to them. Need a colleague to get involved in a special project? That’s sales. Trying to convince someone of your argument? Sales again.
But sales is not what you think it is.
‘Information parity’ means that we all have access to the same information. It used to be that a salesperson acted as the gatekeeper for information about a product and we as the customer, had to decide if we trusted them or not. It was a perilous situation for the customer, hence the famous Latin saying
“Caveat emptor”
Let the buyer beware.
One of the things Daniel Pink did for this book was to try to understand what the general consensus was about sales people, what did people think about them. So he asked 3,000 professionals to use one word to describe salespeople and the sentiment was overwhelmingly negative. The word that was used more than any other?
Pushy.
But the internet changed everything, we now all have access to the same information so salespeople have to act as guides or consultants to their customers. Read on to understand what sales really is and decide what you need to work on…
Sales has changed – Sales people used to be the gatekeepers of information. Think used car salesmen. you had to trust them. No longer this way. It is a collaborative effort.
There is a new ABC of sales. It used to be Always Be Closing. Now?
Attunement – Listen carefully to what you are told and what is left out Become attuned to your customer. Use your heart as much as your head.
Buoyancy – Sales is and always will be a numbers game. Chin up. Collect as many “No’s” as possible, get past “Maybe’s”
Clarity – Ensure success with clear steps to what is needed to complete the sale. Ask questions to ensure your solution solves their problem.
Interrogative self-talk is better than positive self-talk – Ask yourself good questions that lead to answers empowering you to reach your goals.
Improv class – Remember ‘yes and’. Do not get into arguments. No matter what they say find a way to agree with it and redirect the conversation to your point
Pixar pitch – Once upon a time [BLANK], every day [BLANK], one day [BLANK], because of that [BLANK] because of that [BLANK] until finally [BLANK]