Is Selling Evil? This 1 Mentality Shift Will Change The Way You Communicate With Your Customers
Mention the word “selling” and most people conjure up images of greed, corruption, and manipulation.
Every day, we face this stereotype as business owners, salespeople, and marketers. Sometimes our audience is so averse to selling they’ve already said “no” before we even open our mouths.
But why does selling get such a bad rap?
My favorite definition of selling comes from a very successful friend of mine, Dan Sullivan:
“Selling is getting someone intellectually engaged in a future result that is good for them and getting them to emotionally commit to take action to achieve that result.”
With that definition in mind, let’s look back at the past 100 years and ask:
How many breakthroughs would we have missed without selling?
Martin Luther King Jr. got people “intellectually engaged” in a future result that got people to commit to “take action.” So did Mother Teresa and JFK. So did Henry Ford and Steve Jobs.
Selling took place on all of those accounts.
Let’s look at Sullivan’s definition again, specifically the part that says: “good for them.” Suddenly selling becomes something beneficial.
Selling is helpful. It’s progressive. Selling helps create a better future.
Just because the air outside sometimes gets polluted with allergens and makes people sneeze, should people stop breathing?
Yet, when someone says, “Selling is evil,” it makes about as much sense as saying, “Oxygen is evil.” You can’t survive without oxygen.
Likewise, no business can survive without selling. A free economy can’t survive without sales.
Look, I’ll be the first to admit there are people who contaminate the stereotype of salesmanship with sleazy tactics and manipulative measures, or use selling for selfish purposes and rip people off. But those “pollutants” shouldn’t mar the whole reputation of selling.
So what’s the real problem with selling?
It’s the association many people have with it.
Your job as a “salesperson” is to change these associations and alter these perceptions — because perception is reality.
When you approach your market to sell, remember: People love to be sold, but they hate to be pressured.
So you need to go in without the hype and high pressure, but with this proven formula. The key to good salesmanship is to provide:
- Education
- Benefits
- Value
With education, you don’t even perceive the pitch. It’s enjoyable… even fun.
Good salespeople have always used education to gain and build trust with their market.
No matter what industry you’re in, educating prospects on the ins and outs of products and services is the quickest path to a sale.
Today, you have the chance to be an education-based salesperson to your market even while you sleep, through the proven means of direct response marketing, the internet, and the power of video.
Here is the secret to finding success in marketing and dispelling the “evils” of selling:
Build rapport, teach, help, and give your prospects something of value before you ever even ask for a sale.
Imagine a prospect comes across an ad that has a muddle of pictures alongside the usual, “we’re the best” copy spiel. What does the prospect do? They toss the ad aside.
Although this ad isn’t evil, per se, it doesn’t provide anything that is good, either.
Commonplace ads are just another type of “evil” ad — another selling stereotype perpetuated.
Now imagine this:
A prospect comes across an ad that catches their attention because it “speaks” about the benefits available to them. It gives them all the information they need to make a good buying decision, and even offers them a free, no-pressure sample so they can test the product/service/relationship.
Prospects perceive this experience as good for them. The client enjoys being “sold.”
The same principles apply to face-to-face selling too. A salesperson who approaches with genuine interest and questions, offers valuable information, and creates a good rapport provides a much better experience than the one who swoops in with the classic high-pressure lines and hard closes.
If you always aim to educate, and fight the negative stereotypes of selling and salespeople, your clients will trust you and listen to what you have to say.
Selling is the oxygen of our economy. Salespeople are the saviors of commerce. And selling… or getting people to engage in a future result that is good for them… is the path to progress.
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