Recently I shared my thoughts on the need to “smash the stereotype of sales” once and for all. Interesting It was one of my lowest read articles, which tells me that people just don’t want to be a salesperson! Sorry, that ship has sailed! What is sales anyway? It’s something that is intertwined in every conversation and connection. Its inherent in every interaction you have with every word you utter.
“Sales is in your DNA because every day you are in the position where you must influence someone to action to succeed.”
To effectively understand where I am headed here, we must first separate the stereotype of sales and bad experiences we have had being sold from an open- minded willingness to embrace what sales is. I share the same negative experience that you have had with unsavory sales people and practices and that make me cringe when I am the victim of a bad salesperson. A recent attempted purchase of an air conditioning system for my house was exactly of these times. Your willingness to separate and embrace will then give you remarkable power to have better conversations that significantly enable you to get what you want, need and deserve.
You don’t get what they want because you exist. You must proactively use your conversations and know that each one is a sales campaign. This graphic says it best:
Take a very close look at every word in this wordle. Every single word here is a synonym for selling. You have elements of each one of these in every conversation you have. If you want a new job or a promotion, you are required to influence and build credibility. If you want to close a deal, you need buy in and must differentiate. We have all know the stereotype of the car salesman. Much if it is well deserved. I have a relationship with the salesperson I buy my cars from because he is respectful, knowledgeable and knows his product. He demonstrates the above qualities such that it makes me trust him and not be repelled by the stereotypical expectation that it will be an unpleasant experience. The list of examples is endless. The stereotype of sales being a “dreadful thing” comes from HOW these activities are executed not the presence of them.
“You sell every day with every conversation. How you behave while demonstrating these sales behaviors is how we create the right image for ourselves and get the results you want.”
It comes down to this very simple and powerful fact: We all enjoy a good sales experience where we feel like we got what we wanted. Selling is not a negative thing nor is it the enemy here. It’s the bad behavior of people selling that has created the stereotype of sales. We cannot separate sales behaviors from the person, because every interaction is sales. We can however separate bad sales behaviors from good ones.
Todd Cohen, CSP is an accomplished and sought after international keynote speaker, sales culture expert and author of “Everyone’s in Sales” and “STOP Apologizing and Start Selling”
Todd’s dynamic and motivational keynotes and workshops are based on the foundation that regardless of career path or position, everyone is a salesperson. Since 1984, Todd has led sales teams to deliver more than $950 million in revenue for leading companies including Xerox and Thomson-Reuters.
You can also see Todd’s articles on Sales Culture in many magazines, trade journals and the Huffington Post.
For more information or to book Todd Cohen for your next meeting please visitwww.ToddCohen.com
Follow Todd on Twitter @SalesLeaderTodd.
Todd, You are so right about this especially in the financial industry. We must overcome the stereotype of sales every day.