The ‘S’ word ‘Selling’ especially in the UK, holds a certain
embarrassment ; hence the proliferation of titles for
Salesperson on business cards. e.g. Account manager, portfolio manager,
 |
| Current poster in September 2015 from Dorothy Perkins' window |
As we enter the Autumn season ( today is the autumn equinox) I notice in my local High Street the word ‘Event’ is replacing ‘Sale’
in its shop window posters.
Many British people dislike the word “sales.” The very thought of sales conjures up images of
pushy door-to-door hawkers or less than scrupulous used car salespeople. There
seems to be a common misconception that the action of “selling” implies
coercion – trying to convince someone to buy or use a product, service or idea
that they don’t really need.
The logic being “ if they needed it, you wouldn’t really
have to “sell” anything, right? “
The truth about
successful selling is that it is rooted in helping – relating needs with solutions. In the professional services sector, however,
such “helping” can be a far cry from how most perceive the dreaded “s” word.
Conventional and traditional professionals like lawyers and
accountants do not want anything to do with selling – they want to believe that
in-depth, specialised training precludes them from having to sell themselves or
their work. They want to focus on their
area of expertise, be the best they can be in their field, and go home at the
end of the day.
Of course more and more of us are in the service selling business.
We sell the benefits of what our offering does and means to the clients not
merely the educational role of what our offer is. We sell the hole not the
drill bit, the sizzle not the steak
So how does this relate to disliking the word “sales?” In order for us to be successful in
protecting and expanding existing client relationships and developing new
ones, we need to re-engineer our sales mentality and redefine what selling
actually means.
Instead of viewing “selling as telling,” we need to realise that a good salesperson talks less, and listens more? What if the goal of selling wasn’t to force
fit a solution, but rather to gain a clear understanding of the client’s need,
so that we could help them find a solution – regardless of whether it was our
service or not?
The reality behind successful sales is that if you help
someone, you are selling – by giving them an insight of what it is like to work
with you – and that is the best kind of “selling” there is. In order to be successful in professional selling relationships,
we need to demonstrate the belief that selling is helping.
While the feelings of fear and trepidation that
surround “selling” for many, others appreciate it can be done naturally and painlessly – and can be fun and
enjoyable.
So, let’s reintegrate
“sales” into our daily professional language, and see if we can demonstrate
“selling” as the respectable, value-added practise that it should be.
Re-badging the ‘S’ word is fine- so long as we as
professional salespeople do not delude ourselves or clients and deny we are
selling by hiding behind a different word- which is a perfectly honourable and necessary activity
Maybe in the not too distant future we will see ‘Event
enabler’ as another title on a business card of for a retail salesperson.
Good Eventing !
God selling !
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