I was, without doubt, one of the worst salespeople Dictaphone ever hired. And because I was one of the first females on the sales team, I got many more breaks than merited. Perhaps they thought I’d burst into sobs if they gave me too hard a time.
But I digress. My experience in sales has left me with a keen interest in the process, and I love what the pundits have to say. You’ll see Jill Konrath mentioned in these posts, because she’s so good at what she does and is so completely down to earth.
Her approach is simple and refreshing. But, as the saying goes, simple is not always easy. For one thing, it’s hard to put into action if you’re anxious by nature or pressured, as many salespeople are, by a quota. It’s also challenging if you tend toward “hit and run” relationships.
What Ms. Konrath wants you to do first is not say anything nice about your product or service. Hm. That actually makes sense, when you consider that a whopping “92% of the time you talk about your own company, you’re not believable.” Kind of like having your prospects say “Yeah, right” every time you open your mouth. Next, you need to focus on being helpful. That means you share ideas and information of merit, rather than sales-y B.S. The cherry on the top of this sales sundae is “be truthful.”
I can testify to the efficacy of being truthful, though it’s typically not a short-term gain strategy. Recently, I turned down a project, explaining that it was not my strong suit. I referred the work to another copywriter who was much better suited to the job. Will that prospect come back? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But we both benefitted. The client most likely got the job done in a way that satisfied her. And I was able to avoid the unpleasant quivery feeling of feeling significantly overextended. Beats bursting into sobs any day.
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