It’s amazing how selling has changed with the buyer in more control of buying than ever before.
But I think we know this.
Salespeople recognise this now and some have adapted their thinking accordingly, and for many, this has caused inner game challenges.
Let me explain in case you’ve been infected.
Answer the following questions in your head now for me please:
- What do you like about being sold to?
- What do you personally dislike about being sold to?
Your answers will form your beliefs which will affect the way you sell.
For example, you may hate being sold to with sleight of hand sales techniques but you might like buying things. As a salesperson you’ll believe in this and you might be very wary of using salesey techniques and prefer to let the customer control the sales meeting, even cagey of closing the customer, heaven knows overcoming objections, because you think the customer likes to buy.
This will make you an ineffective salesperson.
You see the customer wants to buy, of course. But there still needs to be a salesperson who conducts the whole process. A structure, a professional process. Myriads of ethics and self-belief in the value of the product or service. If you don’t believe in the product yourself, then the customer has little chance.
So be cautious of backing off too much because the customer is in control of buying. Many customers enjoy a salesperson around them but make sure you use subtle methods that lead to the close but don’t forget the sales process altogether.