“Pragmatic Sales Psychology” short episode series, writing #9”
Sales are a by-product, not simply a thing in and of themselves. As I’ve stated in previous writings, clients’ emotions, perceptions and past experiences loom large in their decision making process. Because of the uncountable number of greedy and money-only oriented sales people (I won’t compliment them with the word professional) in the history of sales and consumer experiences, there is a natural, built-in barrier of distrust residing in the psyche of the normal everyday buyer. This fact needs to not only be acknowledged, but also addressed.
So many advertisers in the world of products and services with universal appeal (stuff everyone needs) base their promotions and and most of their pitch on savings and deals that they can offer to entice a prospect to make the decision to buy. A GREAT way of selling benefits as opposed to price is to find the higher good in what you sell and make it the heart and soul of your prospecting and conversations. Price never goes away, but what a difference maker it is when you get the buyer to understand that you serve a higher good and not merely your wallet… that statement works for a company or an individual representative.
As opposed to using anyone or anything else as an example of serving a higher good, I’ll break protocol and use an example of an experience I had recently as an illustration of what we really aspire to at Prospects International. The day I began writing this was the day after the final day of a successful sales event we helped orchestrate and I received a very fulfilling call from a young sales associate who I’ve been speaking to regularly. I will refer to him anonymously so as to keep our communications personal. We’ll give him the pseudonym Carl. Carl is a father of a toddler and is always willing to talk about his little girl. We’ve grown close enough that he uses terms of endearment when referring to her such as “his little princess.” Carl wants to be a good provider. That’s the greatest hits version of who he is.
Here is my higher good example: Carl is, as I alluded to, a younger person, (most everyone is younger than me these days) who is really interested in being a top notch sales professional. He has a phenomenal mentor on the spot because the person he works for is exceptionally well versed in sales fundamentals and is a fantastic sales pro. Carl isn’t satisfied to just pick his bosses brain, he has bought into the fact that there are techniques and tricks to the trade that he can use to improve his skills and performance and he isn’t shy about wanting to be exposed to them.
Carl and I have had several conversations where he has encountered specific situations, and since he knows I am always willing to talk sales “shop talk” he gets my take on how certain prospects should be approached and nurtured. He takes notes. He studies. He writes his own scripts and automations, he runs them by his boss (our paying client) and I, and experiments with different ones to see which ones the market responds to best. He buys into the fact that sales is an honorable profession and he has exhibited the willingness to practice and perfect his skills. Carl has been a professional sales person for months, not years, and after looking at his performance at a recent weekend sales event where he sold 100% of the prospects he booked from our EventFlow campaign, Carl took home his first, of many I predict, $10,000.00 plus commission monthly check. I couldn’t be more proud of this young fellow, his willingness to learn and practice his new craft and his positive attitude, Hec, Norman Vincent Peal* would be too.
On the surface, the purpose of Prospects International is to provide lead generation to it’s clients. We serve up leads to over 200 sales associates daily at this writing. The higher good we serve is to be a sales support system for professional men and women who want to be top performers, have profitable and rewarding careers and contribute to the well being of their families. We don’t simply sign up clients, we get in the trenches with them. Yes we serve up leads but we also serve people. We serve them by assisting them to achieve greater production, therefore a better lifestyle. That is what we really do that we are most proud of and do you know what? When you focus on the higher good, the money just seems to take care of itself. It actually shows up best when it’s not the primary goal. It takes a greater leap of faith for some than others to commit to this way of thinking but it is a recipe for success to be taken seriously.
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” – Martin Luther King
*his book entitled “The Power of Positive Thinking” has more than 5 million copies in circulation and is a legendary self-help book written in 1952.
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