It’s not in their DNA
Have you noticed how often professionals in your organization who don’t have the title “Sales” or “Business Development” will often say things like:
- “I don’t have the skills to sell”
- “I’m not comfortable selling – It’s also not my job”
- Or worse yet, “I hate sales!”
The concept of “sales” is intimidating enough to the average sales person. It’s downright frightening to the people on your team who are systems engineers, sales support, or even product-marketing-focused team members. The thought of cold calling (“Hi, I’m Peter and I’m here to help”), overcoming objections (“I know how you feel and a lot of my clients have felt the same way, but they found….) , or trial closing (“is there anything else you need to know before you sign hard – there are 3 copies” ). These tactics/scripts will make the average person cringe.
This is precisely the reason I wrote the eBook, UnSelling: 22 Strategies to win without selling. In every sales-oriented organization we need to find ways to help our technical and support resources recognize that they can be an integral part of the selling process and still be comfortable with their own style. They don’t have to be pushy; they don’t have to be bold; they don’t even have to ask for the order. In fact, I would argue that they (and we) would be far better off if they didn’t do these things and stopped feeling pressure to “sell.”
Take an hour to read this free eBook and then arm your sales support resources with a liberating breath of fresh air. You may find that these people will become amongst your very best sales-related talent, mostly because they are less likely to fall into the trap of over-selling!
You can download a free copy of Peter Bourke’s newly published eBook UnSelling™: Sell Less … To Win More. The free eBook is available in several formats, including Kindle, Nook, iBook, PDF, and more.
This topic is all about helping sales (and non-sales) people to realize that winning new business is not about selling (or “telling”) more aggressively. It’s about changing the nature of the relationship between buyer and seller to one of trust and collaboration.
I look forward to your comments….