Interesting.

From a personal perspective (and I’m British, so maybe there’s a cultural thing here), there’s an issue with intrusion. You’re right, of course, that if you have something to offer that you genuinely believe in, and that you can see where the client can receive benefit, then the sales effort is really a partnership in problem solving, but the first hurdle is engaging with a stranger and finding out where his or her pain in. In general, we don’t like to disturb people, to intrude on whatever we’re doing, to make that first introduction.

As a reasonably technical person, once I have an audience I can talk confidently about the products I offer, and that is often accepted a good sell (the technical sell, not the commercial sell). But getting that audience remains difficult.

The other issue comes down to money. Rationally I know that once the technical solution is there, the proposition is essentially, “here’s a benefit and here’s what it costs”, but that discussion about money is often quite embarrassing. I don’t think that’s anything unique to me, and I suspect that’s why some organisations have pre-sales engineers as well as dedicated salespeople.

I’m fortunate – I’ve got a decent set of clients who I’ve known for years and am given the time to put forward credible proposals without having to “break the door down” that many people find that have to do when trying to sell. I also have good relationships with some of my key vendors, so I get access to qualified leads – and I can’t emphasise enough how valuable this can be – prove to your vendors that you’re fully committed to following up their leads professionally and they’ll work hard to ensure those leads keep coming. But realistically these aren’t enough to maintain my business long-term. So the basic strategy I’m adopting is this:

1. Before you make the first phone call, write the first email, whatever, take a moment to evaluate the value you’ve added elsewhere. Even though you’re not necessarily going to relate that to the potential client, this can be a good reminder that you’re not simply cold-calling, you’re actively seeking to build a new partnership and produce a successful outcome.

2. Don’t be disheartened when people say they’re too busy, not interested, or are just plain rude. In my case I can look back to when I was in IT management, and I know what I was like. Just handle it in a courteous way and try to leave an option to email info or call again another time. Do that, and you probably won’t be remembered. Be rude or obnoxious and you’ve never get past the intro again.

3. When it comes to pricing up a deal, try to keep some perspective in the value of what you’re offering. The product or service may cost X, and X may be a large sum of money, but in a year’s time the saving could be 2X. If pricing really is a problem, and customers regularly feed that back to you, then talk to the vendors. Perhaps they need that market feedback to help them pitch their products or services appropriately.

4. Don’t take it personally. If you honestly believe that you’re offering a good service at a fair price, then don’t get upset because you don’t win every opportunity. There are hundreds of reasons why you may not be successful, ranging from heavy discounting, to client family problems, to incumbent suppliers always getting the business. It’s disheartening, but it doesn’t matter. As with point 2, make sure that whatever you do, you end the transaction in a polite, professional manner. If you’re polite, supportive, wish the best of luck, and offer any help for the future, then you may still be in with a future shot. If you’re unpleasant, rude, come across as a bad loser, then you’ll always be remembered for the wrong reasons.

This article was spot on with how I used to feel about sales/salespeople until I became extremely successful in my last sales position. I was previously working in for-profit education signing up students who’s age averaged about 35. These people were hopeless, frustrated, working 12 hour days; most working two jobs. All of these students once had dreams and inspiration to become something and make a name for themselves.

I struggled at first with the position because it was a lot of cold calling to individuals who were not looking to go back to school, they had filled out a form for employment on monster.com or careerbuilder. They had no plans to attend college.

I quickly discovered that the key to my success was all about asking open ended questions that hit hard. An example of a phrase I would always say to potential students is: If you can think back to a time that you were 8 years old o even 18 years old, just graduating from high school, what life did you always see yourself in that you are not in now? How has this effected you? What are your goals to get back on track to where you want to be? Or just a very simple: Where do you want to be in life right now and how do you think you are going to get there?

These simple questions are just enough to not only show that you care about their current situation, but allow you to peel away at the onion and ask :Why?

I am struggling in my current position because it is very aggressive and now, now, now. You aren’t doing much of “consulting” or showing the employer that you “care” about your business. It’s moe like “kicking their baby” per say.

This article really helped to get me back into the focus of “how can I help to make your business run more efficient?” or “what are some things that you would like to have in your business that would help to save you time and money and help you to focus more on your customer base?”

Thank you so much for the reminder – it was a great flashback!