Selling Without Selling

The day I learnt to stop selling and start communicating was the day my bank balance changed forever. Nobody likes to be sold to. Especially using the aggressive and bullying tactics that most rookie sales people use. People must first buy into you before they buy from you. There is also a catch to this statement. People buy for their own reasons and not yours. This is why it is your job to build rapport, listen to what is being said and what isn’t being said. You need to understand what drives them and their core needs. Communicate how what you have got to offer can meet these needs. The best way to do this is to talk in terms of their ambitions and how your product can help fulfill their goals. Talk in terms of their interests, desires and fears. Connect yourself to their inner inhibitions and take them through the experience of having their needs met using the power of imagination. This is easy stuff. All you have to do is be yourself and be genuinely interested in the person your are communicating with. Sophisticated but yet so simple. Let me prove this to you by telling you a story.

I once had a client that was fund of giving me the answer ‘NO!”. “Like I said before Keji, the answer has always been no and it will always be no. I just don’t see how it will benefit me and most importantly, I am not in the business of wasting money.” - This was his reply to me every time I called to sell online reviews to him. It went on for about four months. Yes! I was that stupid. Why didn’t I get the message or change my strategy? Shut up! I don’t need any more criticism from you too.

It took my girlfriend dumping me because I was terrible at listening to her before I realised the wrong doing of my ways. I couldn’t live without her and felt if listening to her was what she wanted, listening to her with my heart and soul was what I was going to give her. You can probably guess what happened next; she came back and this time for good (All this happened in the space of 4 months). It was at this time that I realised I could use the same strategy on my customers. I wanted my girlfriend to have me back but she didn’t because I failed to understand and listen to what she was saying and wasn't saying. By discovering what she needed and deciding to first give her what she needed, she finally made up her mind to give me what I needed. That was the secret. All the begging, charming and trying to convince her to be with me was useless without any sign of interest in what she wanted and how I was going work on giving it to her.

It didn’t take much to make the necessary changes with my client. I called him up one Monday afternoon and told him that I didn’t want him to buy from me and I was not going to try and convince him otherwise. All I wanted was an opportunity to get to know his business and his ambitions for it. In less than 5 minutes on the phone, I got an appointment to see him and the rest was a signed contract for 12 months.

By Keji Giwa http://www.careerinsights.tv