The Hindu Business Line : Selling is like golf or photography

E-COMMERCE is far more capable than the traditional salesman. However, there are "four pieces of information critical to buyers," which e-com cannot yield. That, from the blurb of The Sales Advantage by J.Oliver Crom and Michael Crom, with the stamp of Dale Carnegie and Associates, can annoy the serious techie. But the book from Simon & Schuster (www.simonsays.com) includes specific advice for each stage of the eleven-stage selling process — with questions such as how to sell beyond questions of prices, how to reach the decision makers, how to determine customers' needs and so on. Selling is like golf or photography, states the intro. How? "A lot of people play, but very few really know how. Most of us take pictures, but not many of us have the knowledge or skills to become a published photographer. A lot of people know just enough about selling to make a decent living. But most people don't know enough about the buying and selling process to truly excel in a sales career." Here's more:

Networking with business acquaintances and friends is one of the most effective ways to meet people who might need our products or services. A personal referral network can consist of relatives, doctors, lawyers, accountants, neighbours, hairdressers, and your local grocer — you name it. Everyone with whom we come in frequent contact should know enough about how we add value to our customers.

Generally, the best people in any profession are very emotional and passionate about what they do. The best nurses usually get emotional about creating comfort and caring for their patients. The best public speakers are those who feel passionate about inspiring the audience. The best managers usually care about the people they manage. The best athletes are most often found crying on the bench when they lose, but exuding extreme joy when they win.

For most of us, getting good results from our initial communication is one of the toughest parts of selling. We make countless phone calls. We send numerous pieces of literature touting our new products and services. We even put our prospects on the mailing list for our company newsletter. Yet, no matter what we do, we can't increase our response rate. Why? Simply, we haven't done anything different to get attention.

Unfortunately, many salespeople make the mistake of pursuing almost every prospect with the same tenacity. When that happens, their efforts often become diluted. Instead of having a good number of productive conversations with quality prospects, they're having surface-level conversations with anyone who seems interested in buying `someday'.

The action of walking away is perhaps one of the most powerful tools of all. For a customer, it says, "I've gone as far as I can go." For a salesperson, walking away says, "I've done all I can do." There's a saying that goes, "You know you're an experienced salesperson when you've made a big sale, lost a big sale, and walked away from a big sale."

Don't walk away from the `advantage'.

CatalystBooks@Hotmail.com

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