Discover how challenging stereotypes and promoting positive sales strategies can transform the sales industry for the better.
Once, a long time ago, I taught selling at a college. There were always about 25 students in the class, partly because I never used slides and because their final exam grade was their course grade. The rest of the time, we talked. Normally, these students started off silent, waiting for me to teach them, but after a few weeks, they realized I was not going to lecture them and they began to engage in conversation.
To get things started, I decided to have each person write a word on the whiteboard that describes a salesperson. The first words were pushy, selfish, money-grubbing, taking advantage, and manipulative. Once everyone had finished writing, I asked the class to raise their hands if one of their parents worked in sales. In an average class, there might be about five hands raised.
I would ask the first person to tell me if it was their mother or father who was in sales. When they answered, I would say, “So, your mom is pushy, money-hungry, selfish, and capable of manipulating her clients?” The student would protest, “My parent is nothing like that; their clients are more like friends."
I imagine you could do this same experiment today and get the same response. For some reason, the stereotype of the salesperson persists, even among those who have some opportunity to know better. There are other groups that criticize salespeople, too. This includes many of us in the sales industrial complex.
I have my own sales force, none of whom fit the typical stereotype. I also know more salespeople than most people, and even though some are prone to make mistakes, very few might be convicted of being examples of an outdated stereotype. That said, we need to address two cohorts: the sales industrial complex and a certain type of salesperson who is often transactional in a time when buyers need greater counsel.
Criticism within the Sales Industry
I am part of the sales industrial complex. I, like many of my friends, am pro-salesperson. Many of us share sales strategies and tactics on social media, in books, through training and consulting, and through sales coaching. Most of our work is about improving sales results.
But there are others who are more likely to criticize salespeople, especially on LinkedIn. Some of these people confess the sins of the salesperson who botched a deal. Sometimes, members of the sales industrial complex capture the salesperson’s mistake, misstep, or misunderstanding of the strategy they were trying to execute.
Some of the criticism comes from VPs of sales who rough up salespeople who call them to book a meeting, embarrassing the salesperson, even though they blur the name in their posts. A number of these critics chastise a salesperson who makes a cold call, saying they would not buy from a salesperson who cold-called them. Meanwhile, their sales team sees these posts between the cold calls the VP requires them to make. This is a performative contradiction; the person telling you not to do something is doing it themselves.
Challenges of Transactional Sales Techniques
You cannot judge a certain type of salesperson who has regressed to a transactional sales approach. We can lay the blame on the sales leaders who require their sales force to sell this way. In the last couple of weeks, I have had no fewer than three software sellers call me to pitch a demo of their CRM.
The first person I refused to take a demo from eventually begged me to take it, saying he wouldn’t get paid if he didn’t book it. I have no idea why the sales leaders of this company believe that someone will be impressed by a CRM, all of which have the same abilities.
The second salesperson continues to call me to demo his CRM. I continue to tell him that the fact his company has built a new CRM will not persuade me because he doesn’t have an answer to the question, “Why change?” The third salesperson to pitch me was a little better. I told him that he needed a “why change.” He asked me what a “why change” was and if I would give him 10 minutes to call me back. When he called back, he had a compelling reason to change.
Positive Strategies for Sales Success
Anything you can write negatively can be better written positively. If you see something wrong, instead of criticizing the salesperson, provide them with a better strategy and how they should approach the scenario that caused them to fail. Those of us in the sales industrial complex should do our best to make our advice positive, helping people who are selling in a trying environment rather than discouraging them.
Those of us who have teams should want our teams to stay positive when it’s challenging to get meetings. Right now, it’s difficult to get a contact on the phone, voicemail boxes are full, and messages are often ignored.
Conclusion
If you are a sales rep, ignore negative sales content and ingest positive material instead. You don’t need to worry about the outdated stereotype, as almost no one wants to be manipulative or pushy. It is rare that you will see someone who matches the stereotype, but you will see some sales reps making mistakes. Help them if you can.
If you are a sales leader, tread lightly on salespeople who make mistakes, especially if the sales rep doesn’t belong to you. Instead, offer advice, even if the salesperson isn’t yours.
Do good work, and keep it positive.
