I love great salespeople. Great salespeople are charming, polite and responsive to your needs. They make you feel good about what you’re buying.
When someone says “car salesman” to me, I always think about Danny Devito’s character in the childhood movie “Matilda.” Remember? He buys stolen parts and puts sawdust somewhere in the car so it runs smoothly for a few miles. Even if you don’t remember, just trust me that he was a deceptive crook. Why is it that when people think “sales,” they conjure that image and automatically think “deceptive”?
In my line of work, I meet a lot of people on the job market — passive and active. I’m not great at helping people transition careers because my industry doesn’t work that way, but I do ask, “If you could do anything you wanted, what would that be?” Answers vary, but many times I hear “anything but sales.” Really? Would you dig a ditch? Work in a fishery? Apply to be Naomi Campbell’s personal assistant? All over being in sales?
Why?
To be honest, there are more than just a couple of reasons sales jobs can be intimidating: customers can be rude to you; customers hang up on you; customers refuse to see you; customers don’t trust you; and on top of all that, you have tough metrics to meet. When I became a recruiter, my own mother shamefully told me that she was going to make a genuine effort to be nicer to recruiters when they call. That being said, I still can’t email her from work because I’m on the company blacklist since I’m in recruiting.
The truth is that good salespeople are some of the most enjoyable people you’ll meet. I love great salespeople. They aren’t overly pushy (bad sales tactic). They don’t demand meetings or call every single week at the same time saying the same thing (bad sales tactic). Good salespeople are charming, polite and responsive to your needs. They make you feel good about what you’re buying.
Here are a few quick ways to make sales less daunting and become a better salesperson along the way.
- Work on your long game. Statistically speaking, very few times will you close a deal during your first interaction. Once you realize that you’re not going to get the sale the first time you meet a prospect, you instantly relax. Instead of trying to aggressively sell someone you just met, take some time to get to know him or her and the business. Be consistent and don’t act turned off when prospects don’t give you an order right away. Your goal is to be there and be in good graces when they have a need.
- They are buying it from somebody. A lot of people feel timid about asking customers to part with their money and buy something. I want to take those people, gently shake them by the shoulders, and say, “They’re already buying it from someone else!” In more situations than not, your target clients are already buying what you’re selling from your competitor. Find their pain point, show them how you’re different (real reasons, not fluff), and get the sale.
- The only objection you can’t overcome is silence. Average salespeople hang up the phone as soon as they hear an objection and call back the next week just hoping something has changed. This is mindless and a waste of a good learning opportunity. As soon as you get an objection, ask an open-ended question. If I hear, “We never have turnover so we don’t use recruiters,” then I ask, “Oh, great. Must be a good place to work then. How do you handle contract needs?” Don’t take objections personally and never turn an objection into a competition. You cannot bully someone into being your client, but you can learn something new about him or her every time you connect.
With those things in mind, I think most people would find that sales aren’t as intimidating as they think it is. So, if right now you’d do anything but sales, maybe you’re selling yourself short.
