Not surprisingly there’s plenty of choice when it comes to “how to sell” books. The sales “newbie” or business start up “needie” can find a bewildering array in any book store. Now, with the Internet, there’s a tsunami of new articles published every day. (Including in this blog of course). There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of sources for the secrets of how to sell.
But how is the newcomer supposed to choose something to learn from, and how is s/he supposed to know whether the final choice is either meaningful or relevant. Maybe it’s really bad advice, especially without the experience needed to sort the insight from the insults (the way some authors assume their audience is stupid).
A little thought tells us there can’t be a single right way to sell. There are tens of millions of people around the world selling stuff every day. Good ones, bad ones, hungry ones, dishonest ones. Sales is the world’s second oldest profession ( and the oldest entails at least an element of selling).
It’s a fair bet the majority of those selling stuff can’t even read, and certainly won’t be able to read The One Minute Salesman. If only because it isn’t published in their language.
There is one philosophy which makes absolute sense – Sell in Ways You Like to Be Sold To.
We all buy stuff. We all buy a lot more stuff than we sell. We know infinitely more about buying than we do about selling. We know what we like and what we don’t. We know what works, and what doesn’t. We suffer the frustrations of inadequate information. We regret our lack of insight. We’re at risk of buying a pig in poke, and resent the lack of integrity in the seller.
The best advice any aspiring sales professional can get is “stand in the buyer’s shoes”.
I mean Really Stand In The Buyers Shoes.
Now, sell to yourself, not because you’re chasing the commission, but because you have a need to be satisfied and the money to pay for satisfying it.
Sales people who can answer the question “Would You Buy From You?” with “Yes” don’t need advice from those who sell their ability to sell.
Sales people who can’t answer that question with a positive need to rethink their approach, because what they’re doing won’t make anybody happy.
