SALES - Is it a dirty word?
Mark Fryer
Has the business world lost a sense of decency and courtesy?
If you work for a business the chances are that one of the objectives of your business is to grow. This could mean acquiring more clients, increasing revenue, capturing a larger market share or simply making more gross profit.
Irrespective of which objective is most important to you, the action required is selling, (or more politely), promoting the services or products that your business has to offer.
In daily life we are selling or are being sold to in pretty much everything we do or interact with – from supermarket discount deals to online subscription services to finding a partner to love, we are always selling.
However, ‘Sales’ itself has somewhat of a tarnished reputation, thanks to large public scandals, such as The Financial Services industry’s mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI) resulting in
£37.5 billion in compensation –
a scheme that has a lot to answer for.
Restoring Self-Esteem As A Salesperson
If you are in sales there are a few neat psychological tips which you can deploy for free inside your head, to gain a new perspective and refresh your approach.
Here are a couple, as a taster:
1: A 'No' from a prospect brings you a step closer to a 'Yes'
Unless, you give up forever prospecting after the 'No' that is!
So, next time you get a 'No' punch the air, ring the office bell, charge round screaming 'I’m a step closer to a YES!'
(I’ll let you decide the best course for celebration.)
2: A 'No' from a prospect is a 'no not now, not never'.
Sales is very dependent on timing, so repeating your prospecting efforts regularly and consistently is key.
That being said,
please don’t stalk your prospect – that would be weird!
Listen clearly to what they say, and don't repeat yourself if they tell you to clear off - this leads to my next point...
Prospecting Vs. Selling - Understanding The Difference
To sell you need to prospect, and this is a slightly different set of disciplines compared to selling.
Firstly, let’s just be clear there are some very unscrupulous people out there in the business world looking to de-fraud and rip people off.
However, there are also 3.32 billion people who work in the business world, and the majority of them are trying to do a good job each day and help grow the business they work for.
We know that Email remains one of the most effective and efficient prospecting tools.
So let’s assume you or your prospect receive an email from one of the ‘good’ people – What could a decent and courteous prospect journey look like?
Here's an example:
List of Services
-
1. My First EmailList Item 1
Back in 2015, I was trying to do good and I fired off an email to the CEO of AIB in Ireland, Bernard Byrne, to try to open the door to introduce our L&D services.
-
2. A Polite DeclineList Item 2
A few days later I received an email response from the Head of HR and it was the nicest decline I had ever read.
It was brief, polite, nice and clear – in fact, it was so good I printed it off and kept it!
I did respond to say that it was the best and nicest “clear off” response I have ever received and I’ve had a few….as it comes with the hard yards of prospecting / selling.
-
3. Forward To NowList Item 3
Fast forward several years and we now collaborate with this former Head of HR who leads the 30% Club effort and cause here in Ireland.
She is a truly wonderful and inspirational person - who would have thought our paths would cross again?
So, What's My Point?
Creating a better Sales Culture for both client AND salesperson is, in my opinion, simple:
- If you receive an approach from someone prospecting for business and it is not of interest then say
'No'
and say it
nicely.
Doing so will help a good person move a step closer to a 'Yes'. - A
'No'
is so much better that radio silence, which would seem to be the preferred approach of most in business life at present.
- If you wish to improve your sales performance culture and you’re still reading then you’re in the right place.
At ABSTRACT, we have studied and learned from the school of hard knocks to provide our clients with tools, techniques and psychological advantage in growing their business. If you'd like to learn more about our programmes, click the link below or connect with me on Linkedin!
