I was talking to a family member the other day about sales and salesmen. I spent a moment indicating what I thought the best characteristics of a good salesperson is. It didn’t take long for her to tell me how she didn’t think she could be a salesperson.

I asked her why.

She indicated that she couldn’t work to talk people into buying something. I found that interesting because just ten minutes previous she was telling me all about a book she was reading and how I should read it. She didn’t realize that she was already trying to sell me something… she just wasn’t getting a commission on the sale.

The fact is, the reason we don’t think we can be salespeople is because we think that it means we have to talk people into buying something that we don’t believe in and they probably don’t really need. We don’t feel like we want to be con-artists.

Well, salespeople have earned that reputation because of the stereo-typical used car salesman. When we go places like a furniture store or a car dealer, we are swarmed with commissioned sales people.

The trouble is, how do you make a sale or be the first sales person on the team to reach the customer if your customers as saying, “I don’t want to talk to you, I’m browsing” and then five minutes later grab another salesman.

My brother-in-law commented that he went to an auto-dealer as was completely impressed with their approach. They asked, “Do you need any help?”

He said, “No, just looking.”

They responded, “Ok, let us know if you need anything” and then left him a lone.

He loved it. “Wow!” He thought. “How refreshing to not be pressured.”

I asked him if he bought from them and the answer was no.

I think that the customer causes the problem as much as salespeople because the customer sends mixed signals. The struggle salespeople have is that we can’t blame the customer. We can’t change their behavior. We have to understand and work with it.

So, what is the answer?

Salespeople need to become the trusted adviser. Salespeople need to understand that customers today want information and not to be “sold.” Customers want to know the reason to buy something… the reason it solves their problems.

When the customer understands that salesperson can be a trusted adviser, the salesperson can ask for the sale. Often, the same persistence that gets a “pushy salesman” response before the “trusted adviser” status will get a “good job” after the “trusted advisor” label.

If you are to be a good salesperson (and everyone can do it) then you need to stop selling and start teaching. As you teach, customers will trust. As customers trust, you will sell.

---

Corey Smith is a co-founder of Resumango where you can build a better resume for free.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS