It’s been said many times in many ways, people HATE to be sold but they LOVE to buy. How many times have you said “I’m just looking” when approached by a salesperson yet walked away with hundreds or thousands of dollars’ worth of purchases? We don’t want to be sold but we might need some help along the road to making a purchase.
In his recent article for Inc. “The Real Truth About Sales Process” Geoffrey James wrote “Customers don't want you to sell anything to them. Customers have their own idea about how they want to buy something. They deeply resent it when you try to make them dance to your pre-determined tune.” It's even truer in the B2B selling world than it is in retail where most busy execs are chased by sellers daily .
It is our belief at Sandler Training by SalesGrowth MD, Inc. that a good sales professional should be a facilitator of the buying experience and never position themselves between the prospect and their decision. We call that “Staying on the back side of the buying pendulum” and it requires being absolutely okay with a prospect electing not to purchase your product or service. By removing the pressure or “pull” toward the sale the buyer is allowed to make the purchase for their reasons and not the sellers.
If a seller is trying to coerce, manipulate, “overcome objections” or any other “salesy” tactic they should probably rethink the approach. At Sandler our closing step consists of one simple sentence, “Where do we go from here?” thus allowing the customer the ability to buy versus being “closed” as in a traditional process.
Don’t get me wrong I have sold a TON of stuff over the years using a traditional selling process but every day it works less and less effectively. It is a brave new world and the future of selling is to STOP DOING IT!
Sandler Training in Denver provides sales training, management and leadership training, and professional development for individuals and organizations. Let us know how we can help your team.
