In any highly competitive marketplace one is sure to hear from salesmen looking to make a friend that the only way to sell is to be aggressive and to 'never give up'. If you haven't already heard this saying more than enough times from purported 'wise' individuals then we are hanging out in different places. To me, this advice is about as old school as you can get. And the salespeople dishing it out typically reminds me more of a grown up school bully than an award winning sales professional.
So what is wrong the advice of being agressive? Well let's think about it. Do you like being pestered, bothered, troubled or harrassed? If you answer is no, then at least you are sane enough to continue reading.
No one likes being forced into submission, being hard sold or being told what to do.
Don't get the wrong idea and turn from a okay salesperson to an order taker. Pay attention to the next sentence. There is no getting around the fact that a salesperson persuades for a living. Re-read the last sentence if you have to. What I typically find in sales is one of two extremes either the bully salesperson or or the order taker, but where is the middle ground in the sales profession. The middle ground is easily surfaced if you review why we persuade and how we do it.
So lets clarify. There is a difference between being agressive and being smart. There is also a distinction between creating a need and trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole and there is a difference between utilizing a trust based sales approach and using any other system.
Think back to the person that last told you to be aggressive and to 'not give up'. Do they add value for their clients? Selling is not about duping the customer into believing you. It isn't about getting a client to relent into accepting your position. True value is created if you can build a relationship with your client, get to know their needs and fulfill them.
What I advocate is Trust based Selling... If you give it a chance it will change your outlook on sales, increase your income and most importantly improve your life. A trust based sales approach will generate far more results than any sales bully could fathom.
This doesn't mean that sales will be easy. Face it, sales is an unforgiving profession. Only the best can succeed in sales. There are plenty of people standing in front of the unemployment office every day that had the right intentions, however there are those select few that are doing it. They are making thing happen. I would suggest that many of these individauls use some form of trust based selling but most don't know the name for it.
Now before you think I am a wimp that got his lunch handed to him in life and sales.. think again. I am 6'4 and 220 pounds. I have a beautiful wife and an amazing business. Along the way, I earned a business degree and a law degree from two of america's finest universities. I have a loyal client following and I run some of the largest businesses in my industry. I have been part of winning teams my entire life and I have never, ever handed over my lunch money to some school or sales clown.
So what is wrong the advice of being agressive? Well let's think about it. Do you like being pestered, bothered, troubled or harrassed? If you answer is no, then at least you are sane enough to continue reading.
No one likes being forced into submission, being hard sold or being told what to do.
Don't get the wrong idea and turn from a okay salesperson to an order taker. Pay attention to the next sentence. There is no getting around the fact that a salesperson persuades for a living. Re-read the last sentence if you have to. What I typically find in sales is one of two extremes either the bully salesperson or or the order taker, but where is the middle ground in the sales profession. The middle ground is easily surfaced if you review why we persuade and how we do it.
So lets clarify. There is a difference between being agressive and being smart. There is also a distinction between creating a need and trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole and there is a difference between utilizing a trust based sales approach and using any other system.
Think back to the person that last told you to be aggressive and to 'not give up'. Do they add value for their clients? Selling is not about duping the customer into believing you. It isn't about getting a client to relent into accepting your position. True value is created if you can build a relationship with your client, get to know their needs and fulfill them.
What I advocate is Trust based Selling... If you give it a chance it will change your outlook on sales, increase your income and most importantly improve your life. A trust based sales approach will generate far more results than any sales bully could fathom.
This doesn't mean that sales will be easy. Face it, sales is an unforgiving profession. Only the best can succeed in sales. There are plenty of people standing in front of the unemployment office every day that had the right intentions, however there are those select few that are doing it. They are making thing happen. I would suggest that many of these individauls use some form of trust based selling but most don't know the name for it.
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