What is the Fastest Way to Overcome Sales Reluctance?
Have you or your team ever had "sales
reluctance?" The most instant success
I have had at training people to overcome
this in a heartbeat is getting back to the
real definition of what selling really is.
Let me explain.
It intrigues me how many people feel apologetic about selling something they truly
believe in. I find this fascinating. If you believe in what you do, and you believe that it
would be of value to others, and if you are motivated by serving other people – then it
is a dis-service not to be as great at selling as you can.
I have a fundamental belief that selling = conviction + service. That's it. That's all.
Think about a situation where someone benefited from your services recently. You got
some money from the transaction which you probably don’t have in your wallet any
more. They got a benefit which they still enjoy to this day. So who benefited more from
the transaction - them or you? This is the example Zig Ziglar uses to prove that true
sales is in fact service, because the other party will always win more than you do?"
Feeling shy about asking someone to look at the benefits of what we offer is not
“polite”; it is ego (in the form of fear-of-rejection) standing in the way of service.
If you have total conviction in what you do, and you are motivated by serving others
then selling comes automatically. If you do not have total conviction in what you do,
then find the reason to have conviction, or find something you can have conviction in.
Otherwise, what you do will feel like a struggle and your results will be more
sporadic.
True selling is the authentic expression of conviction + service.
Last week I was having lunch with Aki. Aki is a larger-than life 6 foot 3 German and a
great all-round guy who also had the decency to agree when I asked him to join the
board of a then-little company called Biomatters some time ago.
Unexpectedly, our conversation took a side-alley and veered towards the topic of
“Authenticity”. He told me that when he started off in the Pharma industry they were
all given sales-training, whether they were going to be full time sales reps or not. At
his first post-training meeting, he not only failed to position the product, but the
“methods” he was asked to use grated.
He asked top sales people at the company “Hey does this sales training work?” They
all said “No – be yourself but also have total conviction in what you’re selling…” The
second meeting he went in and literally just made a connection, talked about the
weather and started by saying “This is just the 2nd time I’ve done this, so I might stuff
up, but lets just have a chat.” At the end he said “By the way, they want me to leave
this with you”. “What’s that?” said the doctor. “Its a suppository – it’s supposed to be
quite good.”
“Leave it with me” replied the doctor. How did Aki’s career work out? Not too bad -
he eventually became the EU President of Bristol Myers Squibb, managing 7000
employees and a Multi-Billion Euro Budget.
Once again his story illustrates that selling happens naturally when we combine
conviction and service to our fellow human-being. Authenticity trumps “technique”
every time.
Selling = conviction + service
About the author: Daniel Batten is a serial-entrepreneur and author of "The 6 Secrets of
Incredible Influence". He is an expert on Authenticity in Business. Find out more by
subscribing to his free newsletter: Beyond the Ceiling or pick up insider tips for
business success from his blog BeyondtheCeilingBlog.
Have you or your team ever had "sales
reluctance?" The most instant success
I have had at training people to overcome
this in a heartbeat is getting back to the
real definition of what selling really is.
Let me explain.
It intrigues me how many people feel apologetic about selling something they truly
believe in. I find this fascinating. If you believe in what you do, and you believe that it
would be of value to others, and if you are motivated by serving other people – then it
is a dis-service not to be as great at selling as you can.
I have a fundamental belief that selling = conviction + service. That's it. That's all.
Think about a situation where someone benefited from your services recently. You got
some money from the transaction which you probably don’t have in your wallet any
more. They got a benefit which they still enjoy to this day. So who benefited more from
the transaction - them or you? This is the example Zig Ziglar uses to prove that true
sales is in fact service, because the other party will always win more than you do?"
Feeling shy about asking someone to look at the benefits of what we offer is not
“polite”; it is ego (in the form of fear-of-rejection) standing in the way of service.
If you have total conviction in what you do, and you are motivated by serving others
then selling comes automatically. If you do not have total conviction in what you do,
then find the reason to have conviction, or find something you can have conviction in.
Otherwise, what you do will feel like a struggle and your results will be more
sporadic.
True selling is the authentic expression of conviction + service.
Last week I was having lunch with Aki. Aki is a larger-than life 6 foot 3 German and a
great all-round guy who also had the decency to agree when I asked him to join the
board of a then-little company called Biomatters some time ago.
Unexpectedly, our conversation took a side-alley and veered towards the topic of
“Authenticity”. He told me that when he started off in the Pharma industry they were
all given sales-training, whether they were going to be full time sales reps or not. At
his first post-training meeting, he not only failed to position the product, but the
“methods” he was asked to use grated.
He asked top sales people at the company “Hey does this sales training work?” They
all said “No – be yourself but also have total conviction in what you’re selling…” The
second meeting he went in and literally just made a connection, talked about the
weather and started by saying “This is just the 2nd time I’ve done this, so I might stuff
up, but lets just have a chat.” At the end he said “By the way, they want me to leave
this with you”. “What’s that?” said the doctor. “Its a suppository – it’s supposed to be
quite good.”
“Leave it with me” replied the doctor. How did Aki’s career work out? Not too bad -
he eventually became the EU President of Bristol Myers Squibb, managing 7000
employees and a Multi-Billion Euro Budget.
Once again his story illustrates that selling happens naturally when we combine
conviction and service to our fellow human-being. Authenticity trumps “technique”
every time.
Selling = conviction + service
About the author: Daniel Batten is a serial-entrepreneur and author of "The 6 Secrets of
Incredible Influence". He is an expert on Authenticity in Business. Find out more by
subscribing to his free newsletter: Beyond the Ceiling or pick up insider tips for
business success from his blog BeyondtheCeilingBlog.
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