Selling is a Slam Dunk…with the Right Attitude!
(Business Leader Magazine December 2001)

How many of you can’t wait to get up in the morning to rush out and sell something?

That’s usually the first question I ask in my sales seminar designed for entrepreneurs and non-sales people. Maybe, one or two hands will raise up.

Fact is, most people have a negative perception of selling.  They associate selling with a negative connotation of manipulative and aggressive tactics.  A career in sales is something you hope your brother-in-law (who hasn’t had a steady job in five years) wouldn’t even consider doing.

Unfortunately, this perception is enhanced by movie and television portrayals of either a buffoon such as Herb Tarlek (WKRP Cincinnati), a slick-talking con man like Professor Harold Hill (The Music Man) or Willie Loman (Death of a Salesman). Let me be quick to add, these characters do exist in the real world. They most often prey on the innocent and the elderly. The truth is these lowlifes are distinctly in the minority.

On the other hand, hundreds of thousands of professionally-trained salespeople “hit the streets” everyday in our country to offer products and services that fuel our economic engines. Just once I would like to see a news headline that reads, “Sally Salesperson Helps Clients Become More Efficient and Productive.”

Most people who start their own business have little to no training or experience in sales.  They usually start a business for one of three reasons: 1) They (entrepreneurs) sincerely have a passion for independence and making a difference in the lives of others by providing products or services that enhance quality of life or will help a business be more profitable. 2) They (business owners) are tired of working for someone else and think they can do better with their own business. 3) They (laid off) decide to make a go on their own rather than pursue employment.

Unfortunately, statistics indicate that those who strike out on their own for reasons 2 and 3 listed above are more likely to be among the 400,000 businesses that fail each year. If you own a business or are thinking of starting one, a MUST read is E-Myth Revisited by Michael E.Gerber (no, I don’t get any commission on book sales).

The catch-22 for most start-up business owners is the lack of experience in selling and limited financial resources to hire professional salespeople can result in failure of a new business. Since limited financial resources tends to inhibit sales production, the most prudent course is to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to help customers buy your product or service. The good news is that you can develop the attitude and acquire the skills to be successful with a dedication to self-development.

How do you begin? You start by developing a positive mind set about selling. Take the word “selling” out of your vocabulary and focus on matching your customer’s needs with solutions provided by your product or service. Consider yourself a “Solutionist.” There is nothing manipulative about providing a product or service that meets the challenges of your customers and prospects.

There is still a misperception that you have to be a card-carrying extrovert to be successful in selling. That may have been true in Willie Loman’s day, but not today. Created by our era of information overload, the buying public is too smart and sophisticated to fall for a manipulative con game.

Once you embrace a positive attitude and consider yourself a Solutionist, you must add a large dose of trustworthiness. Personal growth author Stephen Covey defines this as earning the trust and confidence of your customer and being competent in your chosen work.

With those principles, you also need a few skills to help raise your success level. I recommend you pick up a copy of SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham (still no commission). After 12 years of research and observing 35,000 sales calls, Rackham and his associate researchers have determined what really works in the real world selling process.

The biggest challenge in today’s crowded marketplace is identifying the decision-maker and getting an appointment with that person. That is why building a vast network of business contacts and creating a referral system is so essential to your success. When someone with whom you have established trustworthiness can open a prospect’s door for you, it can’t get any better than that. Your toughest competition is not someone who offers a similar product or service as yours. Your toughest competition is getting time with the decision-maker and the expendable dollars the customer has available. Reading and applying the process outlined in SPIN Selling will give you a direction to meet these challenges.

In summary, a positive attitude, trustworthiness, becoming an avowed Solutionist and following the proven process outlined in SPIN Selling, you will be one of the people who raise their hand when someone asks, “Who can’t wait to get up in the morning and go out and sell something”? Please email your questions and comments to headeagle@whereeaglesflock.com

If you have ideas, tips, concepts or thoughts you would like to share with other entrepreneurs, please email them to me at headeagle@whereeaglesflock.com and I will post them on www.whereeaglesflock.com.  

"Coach Bud" Coggins provides 40 years experience to help his clients attain the two goals of marketing…to retain and obtain customers. He is Head Eagle of "Where Eagles Flock", an organization for entrepreneurs only. He can be reached at headeagle@whereeaglesflock.com or
(919) 848-9299.

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