Sales are not easy but it is fun when you love connecting with people. Sales require a lot of mental altitudes to be able to sell products to people. However, the ever-looming fear of rejection has gathered a hovering cloud over salespersons and marketers. Hence, they tend to believe half-truths about another person’s experience. The truth still remains that there is no short-cut to winning people over. We keep learning new things by making mistakes and encountering barriers but most importantly sitting back to realize how we could have done better. So let’s debunk a few lies we need to stop believing as a salesperson or marketer.
“No Short-cut to selling”.
The repetition of the above statement is to prove that there really is no short-cut to selling. Which is why the first lie we will debunk is on books and motivational speakers who sell catchy phrases such as “5 ways to close a sale”, or “Tips on becoming a better salesperson”. Here’s why I believe this to be a lie; there is no tip that you can get that will help you become a better salesperson than what you learn from experience (Sales is practical). The amount of catchy phrase you learn or the lifestyle you try to adopt will not bring in sales if you are not able to connect with whomever you are selling to. Guess what? Customers or buyers now know; 1. What they want to buy, 2. How they want to buy, 3. When they want to buy 4. Whom to buy from (Thanks to the internet). 9 out of ten times, Salespersons only come into the scene at the fourth stage as an “Option” for the buyer. So the words of the salesperson are not the “Alpha and Omega” for buyers anymore. As a salesperson, you need to first build a relationship with the buyer. So the biggest lie of the decade is that there is a particular set of ways to a person purchase an item or service from you.
“There are natural salespersons”.
There is a certain belief by people and even employers that the sales role are solely for “Sanguine” or People persons. The truth is anybody can sell, it may come easier for some, while others it takes time to pick up their stride. Why? Selling is just like building a relationship, the more you work on it and learn via personal experience and shared experience, the better you become at it.
“Buyers (Customers) are always right”
This is one of the lies that have been passed down from generations of salespersons down to the 21st century. This does not mean you should use this as an opportunity to throw their wrong in his/her face. However, you are allowed to let them know they are wrong with respect. This might be in their decision making or in the way they approach subjects of importance. As a salesperson, it is your mandate to put them through and remain a constant source of trustworthy information.
“Clients do not like being asked for referrals”
This is more of a personal issue as I feel am being bothersome when I ask clients for a referral. As am sure there are a lot of salespersons who feel the same way about asking for referrals. There is no one way to this, but here’s what I have experienced: some clients you do not even need to ask for a referral as they recommend you to friends because of your good job. Others, you just have to ask. If you have done a job and you know you can keep replicating it, get over yourself and just ask
“No time”
This is an illusion that cuts across all profession or career path. Which is why time management is important. As a salesperson, it is important to take out time to look for new clients as well as check on old ones. Clients want to know you care and you are willing to go the extra mile to get them what they want.
“I will sound greedy”
Many times it happens that we want more from our clients to make them more money, but of course, that also implies you make more money. This is only natural to want to make more money, clients must be willing to spend more money. Think of it like this, if you hold out this information from them. When they later find out, you have lost their trust. So it is just better to take the leap of faith
“I can’t reject a client”
So many are skeptical about this whenever it is brought up. But here’s a slogan we believe in at KloverHarris “Not all customers, are your customer”. Sounds a little bit cliché right? But this is the truth. So you have to figure out who your perfect customer is and use the person as a benchmark for your other customer. This is a hard truth to swallow but it is one that will do you more harm than good.