Career Training - What You Can't Do

By Matt McDonald

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I have said it before, and I'll say it again. I would much rather be in direct sales during good times, even more so in times like these. The reason? Businesses are almost always hiring salespeople, because salespeople are an asset, not a liability. In other words, they bring in revenue to a company and don't represent a cost to a company. Regardless of what you think of the sales profession as a whole and salespeople in particular, without salespeople, the entire system would collapse. If every salesperson took a month or two off at the same time, it would make the situation that we are currently in seem like the Roaring Twenties. When I mention this to groups that I speak to, those groups that are not sales related, I can always see some people in the audience roll their eyes and whisper something to the person sitting next to them. Shame on them. They obviously don't get it.

I have people say to me, " We don't need salespeople in my company, we sell our product or service over the internet." Really? When I mention to them someone ( a salesperson in their own right ) has to write the ad copy that must be used to generate prospects for their company, they just kind of look at me quizzically. I will give you the fact that most of the bad rap that salespeople receive is caused by bad salespeople and the industries lack of good PR regarding how vital and important salespeople are to this economy, to capitalism itself. Without salespeople, it would be lights out. If you don't believe that, you might want to refer back to capitalism 101.

As far as bad salespeople, let me clarify my definition of same. I am not talking about those that stretch the truth, mislead prospects about what their product or service will do, and things of that nature. These are not sales people, they are liars, con artists and the infamous Snake Oil Salesmen. Hence the tongue in cheek statement that goes, " All the best salespeople are in prison. " I am speaking of those salespeople that are sincere, hard working and noble people, but who have not truly mastered their craft. I believe that sales is both art and science. More than that I believe that is a craft, like any other. That sales must be learned and mastered.

Lesson #1: It's all about people, not commissions.

Lesson #2: It's about pulling, not pushing and pressuring. More on this later.

There are many sales systems in the marketplace that organizations have been using for years. The problem is that most of them use techniques that come across as high pressure, manipulative, combative and adversarial. And while I'm still a big fan of sales trainers such as Zig Ziglar and Tom Hopkins, the times, they are a changin'. The fact is that many people have tried sales at some point in their lives, were not comfortable with what I like to call " adversarial selling ", exited the sales profession with trepidation and skepticism towards sales in general. And these people are now your prospects. It's a shame because many of these folks, if they had been trained in a softer way to sell, could have been superstars. If they could be presented with a selling system that was exactly opposite of what they thought sales was.

The fact of the matter is that if you're in sales, many of your prospects have been in or tried selling themselves at some point in their careers. And when you try to use traditional sales methods with them, they know what you're doing and it makes for some very tense selling. Even if you use these techniques with the best of intentions ( which you always should ) they will usually still feel as if you are trying to manipulate them. That is when an adversarial selling situation is created. And how objections and sales resistance is generated. In this day and age, it's all about creating relationships first. More importantly, and you'll never hear this in traditional sales training, it's about finding out if there is a sale to be made before trying to make the sale. In other words, remove yourself from the outcome ( making a sale ) and first focus on if there is indeed a sale to be made. And I'm not talking about just qualifying on the money aspect, if you will. I am talking about having a real interest in whether your product or service truly fills a need for your prospect. Why waste you time with people who can't, won't or shouldn't buy what you're selling? Yes, you read that right. There are actually prospects who will be better served by not buying your product or service. Never heard that in your Johnny Salesperson correspondence course, did you? But it's a fact. There are situations when your offering is not the best option available to your prospect. And the best thing we can do for the industry, ourselves and most importantly the prospect, is to bow out gracefully.

So yes, there are times when it's in a prospects best interest that you fold your tent, say thank you and move on. I've shocked more than a few prospects by simply saying to them that my offering would not be a good fit for their organization or situation at this time. They then tend to look at me in disbelief. And guess what happens? I start getting calls from friends and associates of these same prospects. In other words, a salesperson's best friend, referrals. Why? Because I was honest and they knew that they were dealing with a person of integrity, not someone trying to make a sale at all costs. The nice thing about referrals from prospects that you do this with is that your credibility is never in question. The prospect that you were honest with has already pre sold your image and credibility!

It's called Dialogue Selling and it's what we teach everyone in our organization. By the way, it's not my invention, it was designed by Michael Oliver. I just teach it.

Many people have never been interested in a sales career because they were not comfortable with traditional selling methods and techniques. Many of these same people have joined our organization and have achieved tremendous success using dialogue based selling. The obvious question is, why?

The simple answer is that it's a selling system that is designed to open up communication first and foremost. Once that is accomplished, a dialogue can truly be started. The prospect immediately feels that the salesperson is concerned with their situation, not just a commission. And because of this, there is no tension involved as there almost always is in traditional selling. With no tension, a dialogue can be created, not a sales presentation. And yes, you may very well find that there is no sale to be made and you will exit gracefully. In doing so you'll have done the industry, yourself and the next salesperson that the prospect talks with a huge favor. The added bonus is that more often than not, your phone will start ringing. From people who have already been sold on your integrity. People who most likely have a need for your what you're offering.

So consider starting, or getting back into a career in sales. This is not your father's sales profession. Selling is no longer what you think it is. It's a new day and a new way.