Ben Arment,
someone that I highly admire, said that "Marketing is the act of creating
demand for what you have to offer. Sales is the act of convincing someone to
buy it anyway. Sales exists because demand does not." As a marketer it
strokes my ego to hear that I'm so important, but in reality there is now and
always will be a need to for high quality sales professionals.
Good, strong sales are predicated on relationships and trust.
Sales professionals of the past have known this for decades, but the 80's and
90's saw a plethora of so called sales experts espousing sales techniques that
were sure to win that next big deal. Sandler, Carew, Carnegie, Tracy and many
others had systems and programs in place that if one would simply follow they
could achieve high flying success. Yes, some of those programs were probably helpful, but the
truth is what all good sales professionals know: building a career is
sales is about building trust with the customers they serve.
Tools and techniques may have changed, but relationships and
trust are still the key components to success. Relationships
today can be facilitated by social media, webinars, blog posts, emails,
and yes, the phone still works. According to Google Trust is a: Firm
belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something."
Did you read that? "A firm belief in the reliability...of
someone." That
someone is you. I might also add "helpful" to that list. Do
you have your interest at heart or do you really wish to serve the best
interests of your clients?
When I was younger and in retail sales I considered the best
sale that I ever made was actually for a competitor. I worked at a sporting goods store that was
known for outstanding expertise in everything we sold. A customer was in need
of a good running shoe that would help with his particular running gait. The
only problem was he wore a size 7 adult shoe. We did not have that size in
stock and we could not get the shoe in time to meet his need. So, I sent him to the competitor to get the shoes and
guess what? After purchasing the shoes he came back to our store and
told me it was the best shoe he'd ever tried on. Not only did he come back to
thank me, but we won a customer for life as I saw him back in the store several
times to purchase additional shoes and sporting goods.
Building trust is also about being so
remarkable at what you do that others will promote you as the expert. To become the
expert in your customers' eyes, empower them to help themselves by offering
assistance and knowledge in areas beyond the performance of your product or
service.
Build relationships first. Then build trust by being the reliable
and remarkable expert. If you can do
that you'll find yourself facilitating purchases rather than
"selling".
Mat
Maynor
Mat
is co-founder and chief strategy guy of Big Vision Media Group. He has nearly 20 of experience developing
marketing strategies for companies ranging from Fortune 50 to start-ups. Connect with Mat on twitter @thinkstrategy and Facebook.
