“Every time the little voice in your head whispers, ‘You have to make this sale’ is the exact moment you have lost.”
I can’t remember who told me the most important sales advice I’ve ever heard, but I want to share it with you anyway. That little voice sounds quite a bit like the Good Idea Fairy, who is a vengeful trickster. I’ve learned to tune that voice out whenever it pipes in. But it took time.
Early on in my career, like many young sales folks, I was far too overeager. When I met with prospects, I hung onto every word and was always looking for the right time to pop the question, to guide the conversation where I wanted it to go, to get where I could ask, “Do we have a deal?” That’s all I thought about. I didn’t listen like I should have. I didn’t try to solve their issue. I just tried to make a sale. I didn’t think about the other person, only of myself and my sales goals. It’s completely backwards from how I do my job now.
The most famous scene in Glengarry Glen Ross is of Alec Baldwin’s character going over the ABC’s: Always Be Closing. This scene has influenced boatloads of salespeople throughout the years, including me. The thing is, if you’re always closing, when are you listening? When are you taking the time to actually hear what the person across from you is saying? Is your goal as a business to pressure people into purchasing from you? Is that what you would want as a consumer? Pressure selling works if you’re the mob, not if you’re running a respectable business.
If you’re talking, you’re not listening. And that’s what a good salesperson should do: listen. So I don’t really view myself as a salesperson at all, I view myself as a listener. I’m listening or asking questions 90% of the time.
I got into sales because I wanted to help people. I know, that sounds like I’m selling something but it’s true. I’m not a very good account manager, the day-to-day to-do list is not how I work. I can’t write code or manage people all that well either. I’d be a nightmare as an office assistant as my organizational skills are quite limited, just ask my wife. I am best at helping people solve problems, trying to make their lives a little easier. Because I don’t think of what I do as contributing to the overall revenue of the company, because I don’t see prospects as paychecks, because I believe that we help people, I never think that what I’m doing is selling. I’m inviting them for coffee, to listen to their story, and to see if we can solve their problem.
So next time you think about needing to make a sale, stop, flick the fairy off your shoulder, and listen.