Selling for the Love of It

There’s more to life than money alone. I know that sounds shocking from someone who trains people to sell and who considers himself a businessman. Nevertheless, for most of us, it’s true. And from my experience working with small business owners, I find that most of them have a passion for what they do. Naturally, we all want to make lots of money and be able to have the freedom and possessions it brings.

In both my experience and reading, I find that most of us work to make a living to do the things that are important to us. The rare ones among us do the work out of love for the job itself. In my case, I sell for the love of it. I do sales training because it gives me even greater pleasure. So, sell for the love of it! Personally, I want the fullness of job satisfaction too. I love selling for the fun, fulfillment and mutual rewards I get from heart-centered, soft sell sales and [...]

Freakonomics Provides Huge Lesson for Sales Managers

At first glance, Freakonomics: A Rouge Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, seems like a strange book for sales managers. It was a book with no unifying theme. However, these stories did indeed have a theme: motivation. The key point is that motivation is a complex issue.

This is especially true in sales management. The predominant motivator in hard sell organizations is money, lots of money. They also use recognition and other material rewards, like rings, watches, cars, and trips to exotic places. But these don’t always work because money alone does not make those of us who are soft sell marketer at heart sell out our values of caring about our customers. Serving them comes first, money second. We also have different goals so develop your programs to appeal to different [...]

Sales Success – What Does the Golden Rule Have to Do with It?

1/09/09 – I figure this blog post might irritate some salespeople because for them, selling is a competitive game, a win-lose game. In their business world, the Golden Rule is “He who has the gold rules.” They love the challenge of controlling the prospect and winning regardless of the actions it takes to get the order. While I have had small business clients who were every bit as controlling and manipulating as the best old school trained salesperson, most small business owners I’ve dealt with aren’t like that.

In the majority of these companies, the founders built their companies on the main Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” They give their word that they will do something, and they deliver. They love what they do. They genuinely want to help their customers.

This soft sell approach is the reason these companies are as successful as they are. Their attitude of service and providing what the customer wants wins them [...]