There are some things you can just count on in life…
The sun coming up in the east… politicians telling you whatever they think you want to hear… Brett Favre announcing his “unretirement” again (yes, trust me on this one)… and… salespeople looking for the magic bullet.
Oh how the world revolves around sales… even people who hate selling… sell.
Now, I believe that to be true… though recently, I was told quite publicly by a 40-something gentleman with a spare tire on his mid-section (and a wedding ring on his finger), that he doesn’t respect sales as a profession… and that HE would NEVER engage in selling.
So I asked him if he was married… and what his wife did for a living. I asked about her health… her stress… and her dreams for her family. He contrasted her vision… with her reality… and then said “Why do you ask?”
“Well…” I said… “it looks like you were able to convince this beautiful young lady to give up her vision… and instead work VERY HARD for the next 40 YEARS in a position she doesn’t want to be in… all to marry you and spend every day for the rest of her life with you. Sounds to me like you are a much better salesman than you realize..!”
Ah… but I digress.
This article began in answer to questions I’ve been getting lately in regard to sales… and those magic bullets… techniques, if you will… that could help put the process over the top.
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I don’t write about sales techniques much, because mostly… well, I don’t agree with many of them.
Most techniques (personally I don’t like to be techniqued!) are designed to try to keep the salesperson in control (which they aren’t… at least with any buyer who understands the process), and attempts to maneuver the prospective customer into a prescribed corner… systematically removing objection after objection.
Sorry… those days are over. No… THANKFULLY… those days are over.
Here’s the real truth… you don’t like to be techniqued… your prospects don’t like to be techniqued… and I… well, I actually GOT TECHNIQUED today! And unfortunately for them… their sale and all my referral business walked right out the door. I WAS ASKING TO BUY… and they were bent on selling me something instead.
So what distinguishes good techniques… from bad? What moves the sales process forward? Are there really any magic bullets? And most importantly… DOES ANYONE REALLY KNOW WHAT BRETT IS THINKING?
These answers and more… next time. I look forward to speaking with you.
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