Southwestern Sales Talk

Having worked in the Southwestern Company’s summer sales program for years, I’ve discovered one simple fact: people hate to feel sold.  There are few worse feelings in the world than when you are with a bad sales person who clearly views you as nothing more than a number, and will do anything possible to close the sale.  I recently walked into a shoe store with the intention of buying a pair of brown shoes.  When I entered I had a clearly defined need in mind, the willingness to spend a decent amount of money, and yet left the store without buying.  The sales rep was that bad.  Unfortunately this is often the case in every sales profession more than we would all like to admit.  It is impossible to be in sales for any length of time without blowing an easy sale.  You are with the perfect prospect that will absolutely buy if you simply stay out of your own way, and yet walk out without a sale.  This is bound to happen to even the best sales reps from time to time.  There are people that will always have a fundamental distrust of sales, and even if you are incredibly low pressure, they will look for a reason not to buy. If this is happening on a regular basis it is time to ask yourself a question: Is my focus on making a sale or providing a service?

                You can say all of the right words and do all of the right things to make your prospect comfortable, but if you are only focused on making a sale they will know it.  Turning this side of yourself off can be quite the challenge for anyone in a sales position.  If you have found your way into a career in sales you are probably a results-focused individual.  I am not suggesting that you should not be trying to make sales, or be afraid to close because you don’t want to be seen as pressuring.  What I am suggesting is that motives always shine through.  Just as people have the ability to tell when you are trying to make a sale, they can also tell when you are trying to help.  How then can you shift your perspective to genuinely care about each prospect you encounter?  This shift is only accomplished by monitoring your own thoughts, and discovering what you have been focusing on.  It is also a shift that will be easy for some, and prove very difficult for others.  However, if you are committed to change, it is absolutely possible.  Just watch your thoughts and see which category they fall into.  Are your thoughts consisting of things such as:

“How can I get them to buy?”

“What do they need to hear now to push them over the edge?”

“What should I say next?”

“How can I answer that objection?”

If this is the case you are focused on yourself and not focused on them.  Instead try to shift towards:

“What am I offering that may be able to help them?”

“Why do they need what I am offering?”

“What did they mean by what they just said?”

“What is the real reason they gave that objection?”

If you are thinking in this way you will be truly listening, and people can always tell.  If you are disappointed when you don’t make a sale because you didn’t make a sale, people you meet with are probably feeling like a prospect.  If you are disappointed when not making a sale because you genuinely thought they needed what you were offering, people you meet with will be able to tell that you care.  This not only makes being in sales drastically more fun and satisfying, but also increases production because people always want to do business with people who care about them.

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