Brian Bush Online
What can be are the people that use the skills incorrectly. These folks bring the criticism that we often find levied at sales people. We fear the connection and engagement often. We believe that we will be sold something we don’t want or need.
There are two things here immediately. How can we be sold something we do not want? We are not hypnotised by sellers in some Derrien Brown style as at anytime we can say No. If we do not say No then we are willingly purchasing a product or a service by choice. So that’s on us. If we don’t need something why are we looking? So maybe we do want to buy but not from that person or outlet.
See selling is about relationships. It also of course involves a commodity too. That thing we are wanting to solve the problem we are looking to fix. So we have a ‘thing’ we need or want. That’s one part of the transaction and it has an approximate or fixed value that we are willing to meet. So it is now about the process of the sale and the person or people managing it. Do we like them? Trust them? Want to be in their company? Did we find them or did they find us? Do we know people we trust who trust them? And I am sure a number of other questions.
Some of those questions are front and centre conscious thoughts and some may be slightly deeper subconscious thoughts. All of which will stop us proceeding should they be unresolved. See to buy we must first know where to go. Then we must engage with a brand and the people representing that brand. We must feel that the value meets our expectations and that we are comfortable with the aftersales service.
Some brands are really good at not actually selling you anything and instead supporting you to buy it. They don’t need your money it seems and are quite happy to let you ask what you want answered and decide what you want to do. Others will seemingly oversell the product and keep at you until you buy. Think about which approach you prefer?
Could be the exact same product with a different sales approach and the whole process is completely different.
And then we have the nailed down importance of selling. Just think for a moment of all the companies you can mention that don’t sell anything. The brands you know that have shelves full of stuff nobody wants or buys…..exactly! So everyone needs to sell. We produce a product for £X and we sell it for £Y and the profit allows the business to survive and thrive. Without selling there is no business.
We now know the importance of selling, so why do we consider it such a negative activity and why do so many business owners fear it and never develop their skills in sales? Weird isn’t it. I meet many business owners who do not consider themselves as ‘sales people’ and often are annoyed that they can be viewed as one. And I work with sales people who have never been invested in and developed by their employer. So given the reluctance to develop skills in sales can we wonder that too many people practice it poorly
And I work with organisations that have no sales strategy in that they do not know who their customer is so may end up trying to sell to people who don’t want or need their product or service (refer back to paragraph 3) so the issue increases. There is also the simple equation that aiming to sell a product to 10 people who need it is far more productive than trying 1,000 who absolutely don’t.
Selling is about numbers as we hear often and it is orders and not leads that matter. If we flood the market harassing folks that don’t want to buy we not only negate our brand we develop the negative issue of sales.
So lovely people to improve the sales impression outlined above do it better. Know the market and your ideal customer and understand your product or service fully. Excel at what you do. Ask existing customers what they expect and then meet and exceed that expectation. Advertise and market yourselves to people that want/need your offer as doing otherwise is pointless and wastes their time and yours and therefore your profits. Employ people who sell with purpose not just profit in mind. The two can live wonderfully side by side.
Brian is a growth specialist and works with organisations to develop their sales strategy and connect them directly with opportunities from his own extensive networks.
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