It has always been my contention that “people don’t like to be sold, but they do like to buy”. I had adopted this notion long ago when I was in the tuxedo industry. I was responsible for recruiting, hiring, and training sales and management personnel for a 130-store retail operation in the Midwest. I have had the good fortune of working with many exceedingly qualified salespeople, many of whom had very little background or experience in selling a product or service to the consumer. I have recognized there are a few key components of people who are well suited to be the representative of the product for a service to the customer. As a qualifier, let me say that I, in no way, see myself as an expert in sales. But I position myself as a person who CAN see when a person has made a significant connection between a product and/or service and a customer’s need. Moreover, I have seen when a representative has made an efficient conversion to a customer’s need, to a customer’s want, and that is the essence of selling in my humble opinion.
We’ve all had a memorable, albeit laughable experience of being sold to. I defer to a recent phone call from a person who called me to offer me an “affordable” repair warranty for a car I no longer owned. How about a “better” internet connectivity in my home only to find out that they didn’t offer service in my area. On the flip side, I think we can all attest to knowing someone who can, “sell ice to Eskimos”. Can I even say that anymore? Never-the-less, we know a person who has sold us something that perhaps we didn’t even know we needed until we heard the “pitch”. I believe that there is a certain attitude, if you will, or skill in being able to communicate the value of a product to a person they never met. So, what is it do you suppose? I also know many who are true targets for aggressive, and even non-aggressive salespeople. Perhaps they just can’t say “no”, but they end up buying everything offered, until one day they just avoid the situation altogether.
My simple credo in doing business with others is this… Know, like, trust. I believe that you must first know someone, before you can decide if you like them, to then conclude that you can trust them. Maybe I’m not Will Rogers who was quoted as saying, “I never met a man that I didn’t like”. But my thought process follows a simple pattern. It’s a process that I share often when talking to others in business about their marketing, advertising and even networking efforts. When you are in a situation where it’s a brief encounter, a chance meeting or even if you are in pursuit of a product or service, what makes the difference for you to engage or not to engage? I for one, think it is in fact about attitude. It’s also about presentation. I’m not sure anyone is comfortable being cornered. I also don’t respond well to a hard come-on. But perhaps I’m a bit too analytical to be a fair judge.
As I mentioned earlier, I pride myself in being able to see a connection between a person selling and a person buying. It happens when the person presenting has recognized a need, a solution or an answer to the person being presented to. Further, they do so in a manner that is not over-bearing or intrusive. I have always been a strong proponent of conveying benefit and value to fulfill a relationship between a buyer and a seller. That sounds pretty simple and straightforward but how do you suppose you get to knowing “what the customer wants”? Answer: You ask questions. Assumptive lead-ins are dangerous. Before I get too much further, I must interject that before you can make any inroads with a prospective client/customer/consumer, you must be passionate about what it is you are presenting. If YOU don’t believe in it, why should anyone else? Fair, yes?!
Passion and attitude are key. Are they quantifiable? That is a great argument, but I believe everyone has a sense that they are being sold when those 2 qualities are not present. I also believe that most, if not all buying decisions are made with emotion, but they only hold when they are supported by reason and logic. Sure, I’d like to spend all of my free time in the tropics sipping a Mai Tai but logic tells me that it’s not practical, reasonable or logical. However, if I can reasonably justify the cost with the product for it’s return AND I get to sip a Mai Tai now and again, then let’s get busy. No, I have never purchased a time share but you get the analogy. The attitude of the presenter comes into play when he/she doesn’t over-step their limitations for presentation. Embellishing return, avoiding small print and worst of all, misrepresentation are all deal killers. A person will believe most of what they hear until they hear something that they absolutely do NOT believe, then the rest is up for question.
Converting a need to a want, that is the true deal maker. I trust most people to know what they need, but I absolutely trust someone to know what they want. If the need is easily converted to a want and vice versa, you are going in the right direction. That’s the value and benefit part. Nobody buys a self-propelled lawn mower because it’s more efficient but because it provides a benefit over one that is not self-propelled. It’s easier, but it’s not more efficient. That’s a benefit. Will I spend the extra $100 for the self-propelled mower? If I want that benefit, yes. Do I need that benefit? Not really. I failed to mention that before you can present a product or service to a prospective customer, you’d better know what you’re talking about. Learn it, understand it, and be an expert or you’re going to be on an uphill battle. If your passion for the product still holds – you’re almost there.
Selling is not for everyone. I once heard that, “We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are.” Your perspective on the product or service is based on how YOU see it. Learn how to see it as THEY see it. If how you see it and how they see it are alike, then you are well on your way to making a great connection. Because if YOU think it’s too expensive, you’ll convey that in your attitude and your presentation. If my diagnosis of selling style seems a bit esoteric, so be it. Maybe that’s why sales people sometimes get a bad rap. I’ll repeat my opening contention… “People don’t like to be sold, but they do like to buy!”