When you are in business, sales is a must. After all, where would you be if you didn’t have any customers? And before you say, “I don’t have customers because my business is X, Y, or Z” I am going to say we all have customers. Whether we call the person giving us money a customer, client, guest, patron, patient, donor, or any other word, the fact is they are a customer of ours that we need to service to the best of our ability.
While we’re on the topic of smiling, ladies, have you ever noticed that when you pass another woman on the street, you are typically smiling at her – it is so second nature that we don’t even think of it, but we do that as women. Guys – you may not notice it, but you also tend to give a nod to other men on the street or a “hey” if you’re feeling so inclined.
Interactions
Think about what happens when you go into a store. You could have someone sitting behind the desk staring at their phone and completely ignoring you or you could have someone say “hello” and “thanks for coming. Let me know if you need any help.” Which would you prefer?
But to properly be in a position to sell, we need to be open. We need to be setting ourselves up to accept the positive vibes from every relationship and see where things go. We want to be listening to what is NOT being said as much as what is being said.
Have you ever purposely held something back during a sales encounter because you were concerned the price would go up simply because you said how great something was? It is a funny saying in real estate to never say how much you love the house/apartment because the price may go up! But can the other side see what you’re thinking? Can they infer what you may want/not want when you’re looking around?
Remember to Listen!
And then we have the old Abbott & Costello skit, “Who’s on First?” where listening is even more important than talking. Very often in life, we are doing more of the talking because we don’t like silence, or even worse, the awkward silence. In sales, we’re trained to let the other side speak more because we want to have them do the sale on their own rather than us risking the deal by saying something that creates a new objection.
Why does the process have to be this way though? Why can we not simply let our sales processes be more relaxed and helpful instead of a cat and mouse game where someone has to win and someone has to lose?
They say to get a good deal, everyone walks away losing something.
Why is that?
Why can we not all win?
Helping
In sales, we want to be making a difference to the person we’re trying to help. If they get what they are looking for – answering a problem they have and do not want, or getting something they want and do not have – there is no need for losers!
When we speak with potential clients, we are never trying to sell them into anything! We are simply trying to help them find information that they can use to improve a situation/problem they find themselves in at this time to make things better.
It is well known that many marriages break up because of money. Many people develop emotional and psychiatric problems because of finances and failures. Suicide is real and often happens because someone has gotten to the point that they see no other way out other than a final act of change.
Why You Should Help and Why We Do What We Do
So when we are offering someone an opportunity to improve their lot in life or their business, we are actually helping so many others around that person too! You see, when we help one business get out of a rut, it is not only that one business owner who is impacted. It is their family, their staff/team, their community, and the extended community too. It is helping many more around them and so when we are working with potential clients and we see their growth, we know that we’ve done a tremendous good deed in the process! There is a concept of fixing the world which is the reason that we do what we do and why we love helping business owners improve their situation and where they go from here.
So as you think about what you are looking at in your business or life – trying to figure out why your business hasn’t added more revenues in the last period of time or why people are going to your competition more than they are supporting your business, reach out and let’s talk. Sometimes it is as simple as changing one or two areas or messages that are going out to the public that can make such a difference!
