Why You’re Struggling With Selling
“Nothing happens until somebody sells something.” — Arthur H. “Red” Motley
Isn’t it interesting that buying and selling is what makes the world go ’round, and so many entrepreneurs and sales professionals persist in struggling with the whole idea of “having” to sell.
I believe much of this has to do with the Myth of the Used Car Salesman in the Popular Imagination.
It’s the image of a sleazy swindler, trying to take you for all you’ve got. He’s pushy, manipulative, and is only concerned with one thing, and that’s making sure he makes the sell no matter what. It doesn’t matter that you don’t even want what he’s selling.
How magnetic or attractive is that?
It’s little wonder people in business for themselves who consider themselves ethical and heart-centered are uncomfortable with selling, and don’t particularly want to refer to themselves as a salesperson.
As I’ve said, I call this the Used Car Salesman Myth.
Is this image true?
Well, myths are considered true or false depending on whose belief system we’re talking about. For example, we are familiar with the Greek Myths, as in the trials and triumphs of Zeus, Aphrodite, Odysseus, etc. In modern times, some might refer to the Great Deluge in the Days of Noah as a myth.
For our purposes, however, the truth value of the myth is not the point, or even that important.
It’s the fact that we act as if it were true.
There’s another example I’d like to share with you of this phenomenon. It’s what I call The Management Myth.
I can stand in front of a group of business managers or CEOs or human resource professionals and put forth the assertion that the tradition top-down, hierarchical, rule-with-the-iron-fist model of management doesn’t work. Rather than motivate, it actually DE-motivates.
When I ask whether they agree, 100% of them affirm my assessment of the situation.
“This is great news,” I congratulate them. ”But, I can guarantee that most of you — even though you agree with my assessment of the futility of managing in this way — most of you,” I repeat, “will go back to your offices or places of work and manage in accord with this proven ineffective model of management.”
“Either that, or you will fail to manage at all for fear of falling into the trap of the old paradigm I’m calling The Management Myth.”
Does this make sense to you why the truth value of a myth — including whether you and I consciously believe the myth — is of little or no consequence?
So it is with the Myth of the Used Car Salesman.
We struggle with sales and selling because are thoughts and feelings about the matter are incongruent.
We have to adopt a new internal story, a new Sales Myth paradigm. And that means we must wake up and consciously choose in the moment to do and be something different.
Otherwise, the default is either to act like the Mythical Used Car Salesman acts (How many times have you caught yourself saying or doing something your parents said or did that you vowed you’d never repeat?!) or shy away from effectively selling your goods or services at all for fear you might come across like that Used Car Salesman.
Wake up! Debunk the Myth!
Choose a new, more empowering sales story for yourself.
Lessons from The Incredibles on how to be a Superhero
Did you see The Incredibles?
Great movie. It’s a fun and entertaining animated feature for kids, and it is filled with powerful and inspiring messages for both young and older adults.
The Incredibles are a family of undercover superheros trying to live a “normal” life in quiet suburbia, but who discover a plan concocted by a self-made superhero (who calls himself Syndrome) to kill off the real “Supers” and take over the world.
The names of the Superhero Family are Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible), Helen Parr (Mrs. Incredible/Elastigirl), Dashiel “Dash” Parr (Bob and Helen’s son), and Violet Parr (Bob and Helen’s daughter). There is also Jack Jack, who is the little baby of the family.
If you haven’t seen The Incredibles, here’s a cool trailer on YouTube (just under 2 minutes long) to pique your interest:
I was struck by two related scenes in particular.
The first on is at the end of Scene 4:
Helen is driving her son Dash home from school, following his having been sent to the principal’s office for placing a tack on his teacher’s chair. Dash had used his superpowers of massive speed to place the tack on the teacher’s seat undetected.
Listen in on their conversation:
“But Dad always said our powers are nothing to be ashamed of, our powers made us special.”
“Everyone’s special, Dash.”
“Which is another way of saying no one is.”
The second scene is at the end of Scene 25:
The whole family (except for Jack Jack, who was left with a babysitter. That’s a whole story in itself!) has been captured and is in chains, suspended from a wall. Syndrome, the mastermind behind the plot to take over the world, stands before them.
Just before he exits, leaving The Incredibles chained and suspended, Syndrome eerily echoes Dash’s previously-expressed sentiment:
“I’ll sell my inventions so that everyone can be Super Heroes. Everyone can be super. “
“And when everyone’s Super (chuckles; dramatic pause) . . . then no one will be.”
Both Dash and Syndrome have got it all wrong. Even Helen could use a dose of clarity.
This is the problem many entrepreneurs and sales professionals encounter every day. They tend to stifle themselves and play down their greatness. Consciously or not, they are ashamed of their ’special powers.’
They don’t want to stand out too much and inadvertently alienate someone. At the same time, they want prospects to choose them over the “competition.”
Does this describe you?
Well, you can’t have it both ways. If you refuse to embrace what makes you a “Super” (or you don’t even know what it is that makes you Super) and boldly incorporate that marketing message to the world, you prove Dash and Syndrome’s conclusions right: Your destiny is to be forever lost in the sea of sameness.
And when prospects place two identical products or services side-by-side, there is only one thing to compete on: Price. Unless you’re Wal-Mart (“Always low prices. Always.”), competing on price is a no-win situation; there will always be someone who can underbid you.
But, when you recognize “Everyone’s special,” the whole idea of competition becomes a ridiculous fiction. There is no other you.
How can you compete against yourself?
The trick is discovering what Nancy Marmolejo calls Your “Profitable Essence,” and designing your business and your personal brand around that.
Michael Port (affiliate link) refers to it as “Your Quirks”, those qualities, values, and activities you love and are naturally drawn to that make you uniquely you.
After all, there are thousands of other businesses that do what you do. People don’t do business with businesses; they do business with people.
And those people with whom they do business isn’t everyone on the planet. You’ve heard it before: ”People do business with people they know, like, and trust.”
The people who are attracted to you are attracted to YOU.
Didn’t you know everyone else is already taken?
Jonathan Farrington shares how to become a sales superstar in 2010
A month ago I attended a Sales Webinar Masterclass, led by globally-recognized Business Coach and Sales Strategist, Jonathan Farrington.
These masterclasses are about $60 for non-members, but my fabulous friend (the Sales Coach & Fundraising Auctioneer) Lori Richardson gifted me this one for free. (Thank you Lori!)
The topic was “How to Become a Sales Superstar in 2010,” and it centered around Jonathan’s 4-tiered Success Formula Pyramid. The four tiers are Attitude (the fundamental foundational piece), Skills, Process, and Knowledge.
As we find ourselves beginning the last month of the first quarter of the year, how are you setting yourself up to be Sales Superstar this year? Where can you improve in these 4 areas?
Here is a graphic depiction of Jonathan Farrington’s Success Formula (Click to Enlarge):
I just learned that you can download (or listen online) this webinar from the Jonathan Farrington’s Blog, or by clicking HERE, but I want to offer a few of my notes on each of these four components to Sales Success Superstardom — a position that is absolutely within your reach.
- Attitude: Jonathan says there are two types of personalities: The “running away” personality, which describes people whose behavior is driven by the desire to avoid pain, and the “running towards” personality, defined by people who are in control, prepared, and allow themselves plenty of time to accomplish what they set out to do.
Which personality are you cultivating?
Jonathan puts Attitude at the bottom of the pyramid, the fundamental component of success in sales. Plan for success by improving and nurturing your “running towards” attitudinal personality, mindset, and action-orientation.
- Skills: Sales professionals and teams tend to perpetuate mediocre results because they assume that skills are needed, but have no diagnostic approach to ascertaining exactly what skills are needed, how and when they are needed, and how they will be assessed and measured before and after the training.
Skills are another foundational component for success, but it must be the right skills at the right time with a specific, clear, and tangible Return On Investment (R.O.I).
Key Point: Your training is your responsibility, and it must be continuous and ongoing.
- Process: Many sales professionals are resistant to employing process in how they approach sales. To them, it feels like a time-consuming chose. Yet, the most successful sales professionals embrace a sales process, which actually saves time.
In the age of Sales 2.0, exploring and incorporating social media and online tools (examples: SmartSellingTools.com and FillTheFunnel.com) in your sales process is essential to sales success in 2010.
- Knowledge: Knowledge itself has several components beyond Product Knowledge. How would you rate yourself in the following additional areas:
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- Industry Knowledge
- Sector Knowledge
- Company Knowledge
- Competitor Knowledge
- Commercial Knowledge
- Self Knowledge
That sounds like a lot, doesn’t it?
It is indeed a lot to take in, assimilate, and put into systematic action. But, do you think you could make just a 1% improvement in 1 or more of these areas each day or each week?
It’s the small, incremental approach to improvement that wins the race every time.
“Every journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step,” quotes Jonathan. ”Why not take that step today?”
What Tom Ziglar has to say about Life, Winning, Success, hot sauce and the family dog Max
Were you on the Tom Ziglar Interview last week?
Tom is the CEO of Ziglar, Inc. and the son of the famous best-selling author, sales professional, and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar.
What a tremendous honor it was to interview Tom on the Sales Success Series!
I normally have people register for the specific Tele-Interview they are interested in in order to get access to the replay recording, but for February’s interview with Tom, anyone can access it.
Surf over to http://SalesSuccessSeries.com/tziglar.com/replay.html to listen online or download a copy to your computer.
(Forgive the recording quality. I learned later I’d forgotten to mute the telephone lines so there a little bit of ‘echo’ and background noise. But, the content is still great!)
There’s so much of value both to sales professionals and to all of us that came out of the interview, but here are a couple of highlights and quotes from my notes (filtered through me, of course!):
=> “The real economy is between your ears.
=> “Long-term success is impossible without Integrity. With Integrity, you have nothing to fear because you have nothing to hide.”
=> We can operate from the knowledge that we’ve already ‘won the game.’ That way we can be bold and step out and not worry what other people think. We’re responsible to tell the truth, but not responsible for how people respond. Because of this, we don’t have to worry when make mistakes, which is very freeing.
=> One of Zig’s mentors is Rabbi Daniel Lapin, who said there’s a Hebrew word that represents “solving somebody’s needs.” (Tom didn’t know the Hebrew word itself. Anyone out there in BlogLand know?) It refers to two different situations:
- After someone needs something, you help them
- You help someone before they know they have the need
So if you are in sales with the right motive (situation #2 above), you’re on a higher spiritual plane because you are anticipating a real need and supplying the solution.
=> Tom’s favorite quote from his dad is: “You are what you are and where you are because of what’s gone into your mind. You can change what you are and where you are by changing what goes into your mind.”
=> How can people get started ‘changing their mind’ and incorporating in their lives the Ziglar “Pure & Simple Philosophy”?
- “You can make radical changes in minute steps”
- start slow and build up: read or listen to something inspirational for personal and/or career development for just 5 or 10 minutes each day (example: Sign up for the Ziglar newsletter at Ziglar.com)
- each day find somebody to give an “I Like”. These gifts of love and encouragement are powerful: Tom’s dad created an “I Like” pad. At the top of each pad was “I Like” followed by a blank and the word “Because” and more blanks. The idea is to fill out and give away one of these each day.
- if want to change a behavior, decide to make 1 different choice
=> The biggest roadblock to success is not having a goal to begin with. Decide what want and how you’re going to get it; start small and build up.
5 Core Steps:
- Write specific goal down
- Write down the benefits of getting the goal (If the benefits aren’t worth what it’s going to take to get there, you’re not going to do it.)
- Identify the knowledge, people, and skills needed
- Create an action plan
- Execute the plan
=> “Where there’s struggle, there’s life.” Example of Ty Murray, the bull rider. Sometimes when a bull rider is bucked off, the rope gets caught and the clowns need to come out and get the un-catch the rope. The safest position the bull rider can be in is to hug as tight as possible the bull’s neck. He must literally “Embrace the Struggle.”
=> This story was the inspiration to title Zig Ziglar and his daughter, Julie Ziglar Norman’s new book, Embrace the Struggle: Living Life on Life’s Terms
Tom also spent time at the end of the call answering great questions, such as:
- How does a person deal with difficulties and remain positive in the face of trials?
- How do you fire a client?
- Why you need to read and apply Seth Godin’s new book, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
- What is Tom most proud of?
- And more, of course
These highlights just touch the surface of this fine interview.
Be sure to get your copy (and listen for the lesson Tom teaches his team with the help of his homemade hot sauce and the family dog, Max!)
When you’re not serving ONLY your Ideal Clients, you’re being dangerous and irresponsible
At its core, being a Magnetic Entrepreneur is about attracting clients and customers you are meant to serve.
Unfortunately, this simple concept is difficult for entrepreneurs to grasp. They are often found running around trying to be all things to all people, which ironically results in being nothing to no one.
I love the way Stacey Hall and Jan Brogniez use the metaphor of a Lighthouse (In their book Attracting Perfect Customers: The Power of Strategic Synchronicity
Here’s the scenario:
The calm water and blue skies have suddenly given way to rough waters and storm clouds. Boats are being tossed to-and-fro as the waves get rougher. In the harbor is a steadfast lighthouse, it’s beam guiding the way. Its light gets brighter and brighter the darker the skies become.
However, for various reasons, not all of the boats require the light of the lighthouse for guidance. Perhaps their captains and crews are more confident or better equipped than others to deal with this storm. Maybe they’ve been down this road before. Or maybe they feel safer out at sea on their own.
“Now imagine that the lighthouse gets upset because some of the boats are choosing to follow their own path. The lighthouse feels that it is not successful if its light is not guiding all of the boats in the sea. It sprout arms and legs and runs up and down the beach acting like a searchlight, doing its best to catch the attention of all the boat captains, attempting to encourage more of them to depend on its light.”
What’s wrong with this picture?
Hall and Brogniez offer that this sort of behavior ultimately serves no one. For one thing, the boats who actually need the steady light to guide their way now are put into a potentially dangerous situation, because of the lighthouse’s state of chaos and confusion.
“Other boats might be steered dangerously close to shore so those on board could get a better look at the spectacle (while) others would be perfectly content to stay where they are — out at sea, relying on their own navigational equipment.”
Can you see how refusing to focus only on your Ideal Clients is unfair to everyone involved?
It’s actually both dangerous and irresponsible.
Which kind of lighthouse are you?
Are you running up and down the shore frantically trying to serve anyone and everyone?
(“But my [insert your product or service] can help anyone! Everyone is my client!”)
Or, are you steadfast and steady so that those who really want and need you can count on you to navigate them safely on their business journey?
