There is gunpowder inside every salesperson
By Ernie Mitchell
HTF Columnist
I once heard an old merchant friend of mine jokingly complain that “business was so bad that even the people that didn’t intend to pay weren’t buying.”
I originally intended to write this week’s column about success topics of a long term nature but, as I started writing my old friend’s words kept echoing. With the state of the business economy “so bad that even the people that don’t intend to pay aren’t buying” it seems foolish to write about tomorrow when so many are having trouble making it through the night.
Therefore, it’s time to have a heart to heart with the only people that can get us out of this mess - the professional sales men and women out there, working in the trenches fighting the good fight, booking business and “Conducting Commerce.”
No! No! No! No! In tough economic times sales people get a lot more nos than yeses. Everyone dreads and fears rejection. To the layman the world of professional selling is chock full of rejection when in reality, what the layperson perceives as rejection is really refusal. Unless you are rude, ill mannered and overbearing your prospects aren’t “rejecting” you personally, they are “refusing” your product or your presentation. Once we recognize this we can present buyer benefits to overcome the objections. Everyone in the selling game needs to get their head wrapped around the difference between “rejection” and “refusal.”
To be successful, sales people need to get sold on their product. Learn everything you can about all the benefits of owning and enjoying your product. As Zig Ziglar says, “Selling is nothing more than transference of feeling. If you feel about my product the way I feel about my product, you are going to buy my product.” If you are sold - REALLY SOLD - on the benefits of owning your product your mission as a salesperson takes on a noble motive, a motive that you shouldn’t feel bashful about. Like Elrod Blues said in the movie The Blues Brothers, “We’re on a mission from God.”
When you make a sales call your purpose is of a commercial or selling nature. If you’ve properly sold your prospect on the reason for your visit your prospect is going to expect you to spread the wampum (spread your wares). You are not a professional visitor - you came to procure an order. Always remember, a sale is made on every sales call. You either sell your prospect on purchasing your product or your prospect sells you on you keeping your product. Am I suggesting that you should come away with an order after every call? No. Selling is a process. There is a gestation period but stay focused, keep your eye on the prize. The prize is being able to help your prospects by giving them the best solution (your solution) to their problems.
One VERY important thing for newbies to grasp, whether you’re selling one-on-one in downtown Gheen or from a podium to 3,500 people in New York City, your presentation isn’t going to be perfect. Think through and practice your presentation with the guy or gal in front of the mirror but when the time comes to get in front of your prospects trust in the power and wisdom that created you. Don’t allow your intellect to critique everything that comes out of your mouth as you are saying it. This kind of ultra conscious intellectual shredding of your message is counter productive to the flow of your presentation and will only serve to trip you up.
Just be yourself and relax. You are going to occasionally screw up. BUT, with each failure you will hone your skills and get better at your profession. If you screw up, as you will, you can fix it with your next presentation. Relax and have fun. Now Go Out There And Sell Something!
FOR All YOU SALES MANAGERS: A 105 year old message from W.C.Holman: “There is gunpowder in every man, if you can only get a spark to it. There is latent power in every salesman - often more than he himself dreams he possesses. All that is necessary is to light the flame of his enthusiasm by showing him his own opportunities and possibilities. Do but this much for him, and the hidden gunpowder within him will explode into sudden and irresistible action.... “
Happy Sales!
Ernie Mitchell, Moose Lake Hill, Orr, MN, © All Rights Reserved 2010.
