subject: Anyone Can Sell [print this page] Anyone Can Sell Anyone Can Sell
As part of helping you come to grips with what selling really entails, here are a number of different definitions:
1. It is the science of helping people get what they want. For example, if your prospective customer doesn't want or need what you are offering - if it doesn't fill some need in the customer - then you have no business engaging in the selling process with him. Now don't get too hung up on the definition of need. If we define that too narrowly, it would eliminate everything except food and shelter. Our needs and wants are ever-expanding, and include things that make us feel good or fill some emotional need as well those that meet our basic needs. We may not really need a caramel cream latte, but thousands are purchased every day. It makes us feel good. While selling is what you do, and you can do it better, it is still less about you and more about your customer.
2. It is the process of helping people make decisions that lead them to purchase your product.Selling begins with an understanding that it is about influencing the decisions of the customer. In other words, the ultimate location for the sales process is the mind and heart of the customer. Very few sales situations involve only one decision. One decision leads to another, which leads to another, which leads to the decision to buy. Here's an example I often use to illustrate this point. Selling water softeners to homeowners is a classic one-call close. In other words, there is only one sales call necessary to help the customer make a decision. You either sell it when you see them, or you don't sell it at all. This simple one-call close selling process actually consists of a series of decisions on the client's part: Should I make the appointment? Should I keep the appointment? Should I let the salesperson test my water? Do I believe what he/she is telling me about my water? Am I willing to change my routine? Even in this simple selling process, the effective sales person understands that it is a series of decisions, and his/her job is to help the customer make each affirmatively.
3. It is at the same time both simple and incredibly challenging. Simple in that almost every adult of reasonable intelligence, who has just a modicum of people skills, can understand it and do it. Incredibly challenging in that to become exceptionally good at it takes a lot of effort and practice. Here's an example. Let's compare selling to the game of basketball. Anyone can make a basket. However, there is a great distance between the skills and competence of the novice and those of someone like LeBron James. While the world is full of people who can play basketball, only a handful can compete at a world class level. Likewise, it's one thing to be able to do each step of the sales process, and it's another to be able to do each step better! Just like every other field of human endeavor, there are the average performers, and there are those who excel! Now, every time you engage in one of the process steps, it's like throwing a dart at the target. You can hit the outer ring and score a few points, or hit closer to the bull's eye and score more. You can do each step of the process, or you can do each step better. And, like the ever-smaller rings of the target, there are degrees of better.
The bull's eye is always the vision of perfection. The payoff for you is far greater than just a better game. You'll be more fulfilled, make more money, and ensure you and your family's prosperity and security for the future -- all worth the time and effort to become better at the sales psychology.
