Like you, I hear pitches from salespeople often each day. It could be a cold call or a cold email. I have no clue who is calling or why. They don’t have any background on me. Some sales calls smell like a slimy used car salesman with their slick fast talking approach. It is as if they are ten steps ahead of me in a process that I control. What is so obviously missing?
A Better Way To Sell
I hate it when a salesperson doesn’t have one point of reference about me, my background, my company or any of the possible industry issues I face. They expect me to tell them why I should hire them when they don’t understand my needs, problems or situation. Like you, I quickly hang up the phone or delete the voicemail or email.
Often there is enough information on social media channels, to be able to get a picture of a prospect. So you can approach them in a coherent fashion with a carefully worded question. Why sales people aren’t using online profiles and a customer’s background to their advantage, I just don’t understand.
Let me give you an example.
A trade publication salesperson, within my industry, connected with me on LinkedIn. She signed up to read my blog, and she looked at my twitter posts. Before we spoke, she knew a lot about my views on traditional advertising. She commented on a post, and we engaged on Linkedin’s Pulse before she tried to sell me anything.
So when she called me, she asked me an informed question. I’m paraphrasing, but it went like this:
“Jeff, I have read many of your posts and tweets about advertising. I sell advertising space for my magazine. I promise I won’t try to sell you anything if you give me 10 minutes of your time to listen to your point of view on the subject.”
She caught me off guard. It was the first time anyone had every tried this approach and it felt sincere. It didn’t feel like a sales pitch; it felt like a true request to learn and understand my viewpoint. And, we had a very productive conversation for about 20 minutes. I shared some thought on what I might be interested in that was a bit different from what she was selling. And, she promised to take my request to her publisher for consideration.
How Can You Apply This in Your Business?
- Is information about your prospect already in the public domain?
- What might be different if instead of trying to sell initially, you tried to learn or understand?
- Could an approach based on not making the sale, actual shift the dynamic of your connection with the person you are trying to sell?
- Is it possible that what you are selling might not be right for your target, but if you understand their need or pain point, you might be able to repackage what you sell into a viable solution?
- Sales and marketing professionals try and persuade or convince too quickly – and might be better suited to learn, listen and understand first.
- When you have a clearer view of your potential client or customer’s problem, you might see your solution in a fresh light.
- Do you know anything about your prospects personal or professional life? Why not spend a few minutes finding a common area for conversation?
Back to the Advertising Saleswomen
The trade magazine sales representative came back to me with a variation on what I was interested in, and we had another conversation last week. At the moment, I’m not convinced that this is the right solution for me, but she listened, she questioned me, and she advocated for what would work for my business’ needs. Best of all, she and I are talking and she is doing most of the listening. Good for her.
Are you trying to sell and close the deal on that first call, or are you building a connection first? It makes a big difference which path you travel.
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Would you like a fresh view on how you sell? Connect with me here and let’s talk. Better yet, you talk and I’ll listen.
Photo Credit: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16995083
