Those who read this post regularly know that I sometimes write about the sales process, drawing on my experience as the western world’s worst salesperson and the perspective of those who are really, really good—Jill Konrath, for example ).
Today’s post presents thoughts from Mike Schultz of Rain Today. The reason they’re so important is that they can also be applied to real life, where we are selling all the time. (Jeez, if you’d known that, I bet you’d have been nicer to the windbag at your cousin’s wedding. You know. The one who just happened to be the VP of Marketing at a company you want to work for…) But I digress.
In any case, Mr. Schulz starts his article by commenting that most consultants—I consider myself to be one, even though my official job description is “copywriter”—are scared catatonic by the whole idea of selling. It seems pushy, sleazy, and perhaps even unethical. Perhaps they associate the sales process with dropping a prospect’s name into the conversation every 30 seconds in an effort to appear friendly and caring.
Mr. Schultz’s point is that if you’re a consultant, you have the skills required to do a bang-up job of selling because you already do all these things:
- Ask questions
- Offer opinions and advice
- Deliver the goods
- Solve problems
- Develop relationships
- Keep your clients’ best interests in mind
Mr. Schultz wants you to sell in exactly the same way as you provide service. No icky sales persona required.
He wants you to uncover real—not B.S.—needs, and sell to them. Very different from the “take the money and run” approach. He wants you to communicate the value you offer. Here’s how he puts it: “Just like when you advocate new ideas to your clients when you work with them, you must be persuasive, inspire confidence, and be empathetic all at the same time when you sell to them.”
Finally, he wants you to plan for success. Which means that you follow a clear sales process instead of bumbling.
Now, I believe that we’re allowed a certain amount of casualness in living our lives. We can choose coffee rather than tea or Jet Blue rather than United. Still, in certain areas of our existence, what we do really matters to the quality of our relationships and to our satisfaction. And that’s where we need to apply the sales skills we thought we didn’t have. We’re not always guaranteed to win, but we’ll have a better ride.
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