Bill Gates, Sr. in his memoir, Showing Up for Life, said that “in certain traditionally Zulu parts of South Africa, when two people greet each other the first one uses words that mean ‘I see you.’” (p. 155) He goes on to say “That greeting is a powerful statement about how much being recognized and encouraged by others in our lives has to do with the kind of people we become. It also drives home the role community plays in all our lives.” (p. 156)
I was reminded of Gate’s statement when I listened to Judith & Jim last night on their second free preview call for their upcoming Bridging Heart & Marketing III http://tinyurl.com/ktmklb virtual conference. They talked about how the soft sell marketer sees the prospect as a person in the relationship first and as a customer second. Hard sell marketers instead focus first on making the sale. More and more customers want to be seen as people [...]
Selling is one of the most challenging professions imaginable. And yet for over 25 years I have loved every day of it, especially once I learned to become a “servant salesperson.” I found that I really loved selling — because I was providing a valuable service to my customers.
Before I could serve them, though, I had to understand what their problems were well enough to see how my products could help them. I also had to know my products well enough to tell when they could do what my prospect needed and when they couldn’t.
When customers believe that you really want to help them get what they want and feel they need, the sale becomes a cooperative process in which they trust you to help them [...]
When I started out in sales, I found that getting motivated to do the things necessary for success was often a challenge. If you’ve been in business-to-business sales long, you know that you have to do a lot of things that most sales people don’t like, such as prospecting, follow up, paperwork, and problem resolution. There’s a lot of unpleasant grunt work in the job of selling. How do you find the motivation to put in the time for the rewards of making the sale?
For me, one of the rewards was the thrill of working with the prospects and customers, the actual person-to-person contact and interaction. Naturally, the biggest reward was getting it right so that the customer chose to buy. But between the initial contact and the opportunity to share my excitement about how I could help, there were a lot of dull tasks to perform. Stay motivated was my challenge.
I found that passion was the key to motivation — loving what I was doing makes all the difference in the world. Every job in this world has its less than pleasant aspects. Have you ever heard of a parent who really loved changing baby diapers? It goes with the job of being a parent. But the love and joys of parenthood keep you going.
For me, being in sales is like that so long as I have a product that I’m passionate about. Because I love helping people, I must believe that what I’m selling will benefit my [...]
|
Invitation to Opt-in for Free Ecourse
Testimonial for Bonus “9 Steps to Finding Prospects” “These 9 Steps to Finding Prospects Who Want What You Provide are exactly what I need at this point in the startup & growth of my business. Keep them coming.
“I now see that the Sales Consultant website I suggested you look at was slanted too much toward "what he can do", even though he claims to be a Sales guru. Last time I looked at it there was "too much to read" as well.”
Dave (last name withheld at client’s request)
Business Coach & Consultant
Testimonial – CMTC Senior Consultant I have thanked you many times for the quality of reports that you provide to my clients. I truly feel you are adding value to the SMA - Program but more to my own job as a Consultant and point of contact to our clients. I really hope you will never lose your inspiration in performing outstandingly on providing the best quality you can offer to others.
Paula Bahamón
Sr. Consultant
CMTC - Los Angeles Region
Grid Controls Testimonial Dear John:
Our meeting on Thursday, April 23rd, was an uplifting experience, and you gave us hope that we can implement the marketing techniques discussed. We were especially pleased with the simple, yet effective ideas you gave us for improving our website and broadening our marketing capabilities.
Sincerely,
Gary Richards,
President
|
Recent Comments