Sex Sells, Right? Let’s Unmask Some of the “Common Sense” Assumptions About Sales
Here are some of the most prominent maxims and mottos about sales:
- Sex sells.
- Always be closing.
- The customer is always right.
- Salespeople must be extroverts.
- There is a perfect sales process.
- It’s everyone’s job to sell.
- Big accounts are the best.
- Good salespeople can sell anything.
- Keep changing your advertising or your sales will decline.
- Humor sells.
- Great products sell themselves.
- Previous sales experience is required.
- More options, more sales.
- Price is the primary factor for customers.
Sales is constantly changing yet it’s also staying the same. It’s a paradox and pretty much everyone in the sales business knows it. What less people know, however, is that many of the accepted truths of sales are imperfect. Indeed, some of our long-held beliefs about sales are as flimsy as proverbs like “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”
This article will set the record straight on some of the principles of sales. It’s not that they’re all duds. It’s just that most of them are too simple or one-sided, and that they’re in dire need of an upgrade.
Assumption: Sex Sells
Sure it does. But some studies show that many people are bothered by sexual imagery in ads.
Tip: Ensure that you’re using sex to sell something sexy. The man considered by many to be the “father of advertising,” David Ogilvy, once said that sex sells only if it’s relevant to whatever you’re selling.
Assumption: Always Be Closing (ABC)
The ABC of sales assumption focuses on the bottom line: the more closing, the more profits. Yet this only focuses on one part of the sales process. Also, while your boss might want a “good closer,” your customers don’t. They want a salesperson that offers solutions. As the old saying goes, customers don’t want to be sold something, they want to buy something.
Tip: Put effort into each phase of the sales process. From generating leads to negotiating terms to closing the deal — each step is crucial to being successful overall.
Assumption: The Customer is Always Right
This line has been beaten into us from all angles. Some people parrot it like it’s gospel. The problem is that it assumes that customers are rational (they often aren’t) and have something worthy to say (they sometimes don’t).
Tip: It’s better to focus on whether a customer is right for your business. If they are, then receive their requests in this context. If they’re not, listen to their opinions with a grain of salt.
Assumption: Salespeople Must be Extroverts
Assertive, Type “A” people make great salespeople. However, salespeople who are ambiverts — who are somewhere between introverts and extroverts — tend to be the most effective salespeople.
Tip: Keep in mind all personality types — introverted, extroverted, ambiverted, INTJs, ESTPs, etc. — have pros and cons. It’s up to you to use your best personality traits to connect with customers.
Assumption: There is a Perfect Sales Process
“There is no such thing as a perfect sales cycle or a perfect sales process that you can unleash on your entire market,” writes Colleen Francis. A Gallup poll investigating sales approaches of successful salespeople supports this view. The study looked at two sales professionals: one who gave terrible sales presentations yet had superb relationships with his customers; and another who wasn’t completely trusted by his customers, yet was incredibly persuasive. The study found that they each had their own selling style that was based on their unique strengths. If one imitated the other, it simply wouldn’t work.
Tip: Create a customized sales process per salesperson. Avoid requiring one overarching process that all salespeople must follow.
Assumption: It’s Everyone’s Job to Sell
This idea is so pervasive that some people don’t question it. A negative consequence of management acting upon this belief results in non-salespeople taking sales courses that they’re not interested in.
Tip: Don’t ask the wrong people to do a task that they’re not inclined to do. Find people that are natural at sales. Better yet, find people that are fanatical about sales. Through training, their talent can be polished and harnessed. Leave the non-salespeople be.
Assumption: Big Accounts are the Best
Understandably, many salespeople are all about hunting whales (i.e. landing large clients). Yet, according to Jerry Vieira, there are several reasons why big accounts aren’t necessarily the best sales targets:
- The competition for big accounts is fierce.
- Big accounts can reduce your negotiating power.
- You might become too dependent on your big accounts.
Tip: Figure out whether your small, medium, or big clients are your “best” clients. One way to do this is compare the revenues from these three groups to the time and effort each group takes to manage. If you find, for instance, that small and medium clients generate the bulk of your sales, and perhaps take less time and effort to service, then continue hunting small and medium game.
Assumption: Good Salespeople Can Sell Anything
Suggesting that a good salesperson can sell anything is similar to suggesting that a good chef can cook any meal.
Tip: Know that just because you’re successful at selling one thing won’t guarantee you’ll excel at selling another thing.
Assumption: Keep Changing Your Advertising or Your Sales Will Decline
While this assumption isn’t true overall, be aware that if you never change your advertising, then your sales will probably eventually decline.
Tip: Instead of abandoning advertising that’s working, try to improve it.
Assumption: Humor Sells
The more laughs the more sales, right? Not so says John Caples, author of How to Make Your Advertising Make Money, who warns against using humour, claiming that what’s funny to one person isn’t universally funny. But a hard-and-fast “don’t be funny” rule isn’t always viable. Humor can increase the attention given to an ad and increase how much a viewer likes a product.
Tip: To effectively use humor in positioning something in the minds of your target audience, recognize that each customer is unique. Some will applaud humor. Some will shun it. For that reason, pick your battles accordingly. Sometimes try to get a laugh, sometimes try to make people feel, sometimes try to make people think.
Assumption: Great Products Sell Themselves
Self-selling products don’t exist, says Patrick Woods. “The assertion that your product can succeed entirely on its own merits without the help of marketing … is at best lazy, at worst delusional, and in all cases self-defeating,” writes Woods. The assumption that great products don’t need to be supported by a great sales team is similar to another assumption: the Internet eliminates the need for salespeople.
Tip: Keep in mind that good old flesh and blood people are the ones who build and maintain customer relationships. They’re the ones who listen and respond accordingly. Not the products themselves and not a website’s FAQs page.
Assumption: Previous Sales Experience is Required
Most advertisements for sales require sales experience. Experience — and just as importantly, solid sales results — are obviously beneficial. Yet, just because a salesperson has a sterling past doesn’t mean that their future will be bright.
Tip: Markets are constantly changing. Nowadays, customers can go online and instantly compare your offer to many others. Also, competition is getting increasingly fierce. For your business to stay ahead of the game, maybe throw an inexperienced salesperson into the mix.
Assumption: More Options, More Sales
Beware of overloading your customers. When customers are blitzed by too many options, they they often pick none.
Tip: Consider reducing the number of products or services your business offers. But don’t just give fewer choices, work on what you’ve got to give customers better choices.
Assumption: Price is the Primary Factor for Customers
Everyone loves a deal. But price shouldn’t necessarily be considered the strongest factor in a customer’s decision matrix.
Tip: Don’t make the mistake of discounting an item before a customer has even asked for a discount. Also, at the first sign of price resistance, don’t necessarily drop your price. Even though a customer might be haggling with you on price, they might value other factors — quality, features, warranty, and so on — more than price. Sometimes price is rightly king. However, sometimes price should be treated more like a court jester.
Qualities and Skills
There are many qualities and skills that make great salespeople. To be a sales powerhouse, you also need the ability to see beyond some of the bland sales metaphors that muddy our business landscape.
By Lee Bob Black.
P.S. Here are all of the sources I link to in this article, plus some additional sources that I used in my research.
Adam M. Grant, “Rethinking the Extraverted Sales Ideal: The Ambivert Advantage,” Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Ashley Rodriguez, “A New Study Shows Sex Doesn’t Actually Sell,” Quartz, archive.
Barry Schwartz, “The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less,” TED Talk, archive.
Bert Decker, “Humor Does More than Entertain, It Sells,” Decker Communications, archive.
Blair Enns, “Debunking the Myth that It’s Everyone’s Job to Sell,” Win Without Pitching, archive.
Bob Leduc, “4 Marketing Myths That Threaten Your Sales,” Business Know-How, archive.
Brian Maxwell, “The Myth of Hiring Experienced Sales People at the Dealership,” Driving Sales, archive.
Brett Nelson, Whale Hunting: What It Takes To Land Large Clients, And Are They Worth It?” Forbes, archive.
Chad Brooks, “Busting the Personality Myth About Salespeople,” Business News Daily.
Colleen Francis, “Debunking the Perfect Sales Process Myth,” Engage Selling, archive.
Cristina Blanaru, “Sexy Ads Don’t Go Well with Americans: Study,” Ad Hugger, archive.
David Ogilvy, Ogilvy on Advertising.
Dean Rieck, “Funny Ads: Do Yucks Make Bucks or Cut Sales in Half?” Direct Creative, archive.
Geoffrey James, “8 Myths About Great Salespeople,” Inc.com.
Ira Kalb, “Do You Think Sex Sells? Think Again,” Business Insider, archive.
Jerry Vieira, “Common Sales Myth #6: The Biggest Accounts are the Best,” QMP Group, archive.
Kelly Robertson, “The Myth About Price,” Canadian Women Business Network, archive.
Michelle Nichols, “Salesperson, Know Thy Customer,” Business Week, August 01, 2002, archive.
Mick Zangari and Benson Smith, “Are Your Salespeople Confused?” Gallup Business Journal, archive.
Nicholas Bond, “The Customer Is Not Always Right — Disagree,” Inside Business 360.
Patrick Woods, “The Myth of the Product that Sells Itself,” Medium, archive.
Randy Meriwether, “Sales Myth #1: Always Be Closing,” RLM Consulting Group.
Rhonda Abrams, “Fewer, But Better, Choices Can Bring on More Sales,” USA Today, archive.
Sharon Michaels, “3 Powerful Skills You Must Have to Succeed in Sales,” Forbes, archive.
Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper, “Why Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?”, archive.
Tom Searcy and Barbara Weaver Smith, Whale Hunting: How to Land Big Sales and Transform Your Company, 2008.
Vivian Giang, “20 Qualities That Make A Great Salesperson,” Business Insider, archive.
