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You work for the customer

by Matthew North
9 replies
It's my view that most resistance and fear of sales comes from the belief that selling is a win/lose game, or that your job is to convince and sell to someone who has a different agenda than you do.

But really, you are working for them: the customer. The customer is what ultimately pays for your commission, your salary, and your continued employment or growth as a company. You are both on the same team.

You might sell your company's products, but those are just a means to an end of serving the customer.

The more I think about this concept, the more it makes sense to me. Does anyone have some insights to share about this?
#customer #work
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  • Profile picture of the author GordonJ
    Originally Posted by Matthew North View Post

    It's my view that most resistance and fear of sales comes from the belief that selling is a win/lose game, or that your job is to convince and sell to someone who has a different agenda than you do.

    But really, you are working for them: the customer. The customer is what ultimately pays for your commission, your salary, and your continued employment or growth as a company. You are both on the same team.

    You might sell your company's products, but those are just a means to an end of serving the customer.

    The more I think about this concept, the more it makes sense to me. Does anyone have some insights to share about this?
    I think it has been shown, to the nth degree, resistance and FEAR OF SALES has more to do with personal rejection than the persuasion parts of it.

    But you do raise a point, which I NOW strongly subscribe to...and that is, I wouldn't touch a product which needs selling.

    I would, TODAY, advise a young business person to get into PULL marketing, have something they want and come to you for.

    Of course, all the copywriters and salespeople of the world might object, but even though Bears wipe their butts with Charmin, they haven't SOLD me on the need for my butt to pay twice the price over AngelSoft.

    Starbucks may advertise, but once a customer, and hooked, they come back again, again and again for their lattes.

    If one needs sales staff, or an Entrepreneur has to sell, then it should be about what your prospect gets. If one enters it as a problem solving partner, those fears melt away.

    GordonJ
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    • Profile picture of the author eccj
      Originally Posted by GordonJ View Post

      I think it has been shown, to the nth degree, resistance and FEAR OF SALES has more to do with personal rejection than the persuasion parts of it.

      But you do raise a point, which I NOW strongly subscribe to...and that is, I wouldn't touch a product which needs selling.

      I would, TODAY, advise a young business person to get into PULL marketing, have something they want and come to you for.

      Of course, all the copywriters and salespeople of the world might object, but even though Bears wipe their butts with Charmin, they haven't SOLD me on the need for my butt to pay twice the price over AngelSoft.

      Starbucks may advertise, but once a customer, and hooked, they come back again, again and again for their lattes.

      If one needs sales staff, or an Entrepreneur has to sell, then it should be about what your prospect gets. If one enters it as a problem solving partner, those fears melt away.

      GordonJ
      I bought Angle Soft recently..... it didn't go over well with the wife.

      As Dwight Schrute said "don't even get me started on how coddled the modern anus is."

      For the modern anus, Charmin and other expensive toilet papers are the way to go.

      I imagine the hard part of selling expensive toilet paper is showing the difference in a way that doesn't gross people out. The Charmin bear commercial makes me wince in pain and we buy the stuff.

      And I 100% agree that the fear is of rejection. Almost everyone has it and a bunch of the sales talk is about psyching people up to overcome that fear.
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  • Profile picture of the author MichaelQuinn
    I learned from Dan Lok that the only resistance to a sale comes from the actual seller himself. Obviously buyers have objections, but it's up to the seller to overcome them and make the sale. I'm not the greatest salesman or versed too heavily in how it works but I think what I summed it up and said it in a way that makes sense (hopefully).
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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      Originally Posted by MichaelQuinn View Post

      I learned from Dan Lok that the only resistance to a sale comes from the actual seller himself. Obviously buyers have objections, but it's up to the seller to overcome them and make the sale.
      That's one of those pithy sayings that sounds great to the uninitiated.

      A smart marketer/copywriter/salesperson will first find highly likely buyers, then match the product to the customer (at least psychologically) and then the natural end to that is simply writing it up.

      If you really know how to sell, the objections are bypassed because you aren't selling to people that will have hard objections that need to be "overcome".

      The part of that "saying" that is true is that typical salespeople create resistance in the buying process. They give off signals that the buyer picks up as ;
      "If you buy this, that will surprise me"
      "I think our price is way out of line"
      "Most people don't buy from me".

      The truth is, asking someone to exchange money for your offer is counter-intuitive. It goes against societal norms. It's why sales companies need motivational meetings, and plumbers do not.

      And "Overcoming objections" as part of the sales process...speaks volumes. It's that most people see selling as a battle of wills, and an argument to be won.
      Most salespeople never graduate from that thinking.
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      “Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise; seek what they sought.” - Matsuo Basho
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  • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
    Today with mass data on what people buy in the USA,
    the predictors of when and how much they will buy...

    only ignorance and laziness is keeping them on struggle street.

    You can do mass mailing that feels very personal
    because you know so much about them.

    Yet not too personal that it gets creepy.

    Example: You sell auto and personal insurance.

    You can pull up all the people who own 3 or more cars,
    are homeowners select age groups, lived there for more
    than 10 years, own an RV vehicle and have a household income of $150,000 +.

    You get 5,000 of them within a 10-mile radius of your office that meet all those criteria.

    So now let's personalize the message so that the reader thinks it's only for them,
    therefore gets read and acted on.

    Ad reads...

    "AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO DEL MAR RESIDENTS:

    If you own your own home, have lived there for 10 years or more
    and own an RV, YOU MAY QUALIFY for Gold Preferential Pricing
    for your RV insurance.

    To see if you do, please call this hotline
    xx xxx xxx between the hours of 8 am and 4.30 pm,
    Monday to Friday to see if this limited
    opportunity is still available.

    If the line is busy,
    please keep calling.

    George Porgy.

    //End//

    You can do variations of that for RV insurance by saying ...

    if you were born between the years 1959 and 1989, then...

    If you own a boat and a cat...

    own a motorbike and a dog...

    If you own an RV and donate to conservative causes...

    If you own an RV and have kids at home...

    Own an RV and have 50% or more equity in your home...

    Just by calling out what you already know about them from the data you have on the American population, you can come up with so many variations of personalization, en masse, your appeals will never wear out through
    competitors copying you, unlike all other advertising.

    It works with over 5,000 b2b products and services too.

    We know the names of the companies, schools, and universities
    actively searching for these products and services.

    Somebody out there is actively collecting data on what is being bought
    and about to be bought.

    We know what's on the ships and who it's going to and who supplied them.

    Very hard to not know what others are doing today.

    We can get the customers of big companies...their names and addresses
    yet the company does not know the names and addresses of them.

    711 Stores are an example.

    Man, how did I get onto this subject...
    I feel like I'm the only one out there who has access to so much data on what people and companies
    buy...about to buy...that nobody would believe that this is even possible.

    Oh well.

    Best,
    Ewen
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  • Profile picture of the author offmarketinvestor
    Could agree more.

    I simply phoned HNW investors and said "in not such crude language" but you get the jist:

    Listen here *****er. I have this offer I am seeking about 12 long term clients. Take a look, read it. IF interested get back in touch. That's all I have to ask you. Bye"

    Got my 12 clients....I contacted over 200 to get them but it felt great. I had the power not them!! If they protested I wasn't wasting my time convincing them I'd simply not reply to them...The shoe was on the other foot.

    I wasn't kissing ass. I had an amazing offer...they had to jump through my hoops to get in. I even turned a few away. Felt great.

    If you are the phone/ face to face and act desperate like a used car slaesman....it looks cheap! Anyone with an IQ can sense it.
    + You will always get some right ******ers that think they own you. Sack them. Move on. Win/Win not lose win. Grow a pair and move on!!!

    Originally Posted by Matthew North View Post

    It's my view that most resistance and fear of sales comes from the belief that selling is a win/lose game, or that your job is to convince and sell to someone who has a different agenda than you do.

    But really, you are working for them: the customer. The customer is what ultimately pays for your commission, your salary, and your continued employment or growth as a company. You are both on the same team.

    You might sell your company's products, but those are just a means to an end of serving the customer.

    The more I think about this concept, the more it makes sense to me. Does anyone have some insights to share about this?
    Unless you know the product is not good...

    I did a stint with property sales....it was all about "overcoming objections...." i.e manipulation. Why was there so many objections? Because what they offered was basically crap. overpriced and not a very good investment.There job was to convince the sucker otherwise. That's why it was a battle!!!!
    Had they have sold gold at say -10% spot.....you wouldn't need to con people into the sale.Offer..take it or leave it. Move on.
    If a salesman has to bend your right arm to buy...RUN!
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  • Profile picture of the author misterme
    Fear of selling I think comes from fear of rejection, discomfort from trying to get someone to give you money, wanting to be liked by everyone, imposter syndrome, beliefs about money, the person's internal thermostat... it's all self-imposed.

    Plus it's also the stereotype people have about selling that makes them not want to do it saying its slick, slimy, used car salesperson manipulative underhanded shady stuff.

    I recently had a prospective husband and wife buyer show up with family and friends and kids in tow, something like nine more people, which I had to ask them to hang in the lobby since I didn't invite them and literally couldn't accommodate them. A week after their purchase they changed their minds but the order wasn't subject to cancellations. I heard from their daughter, who didn't come that day, accusing me of nefariously "isolating" the buyers from their family. Can you believe that?

    This is funny.... years ago I had someone say that I must not be any good if I have to advertise to get customers.

    People say all sorts of things.

    So I guess this also about sales, is you have to be able to stomach these barbs, slings and arrows from time to time. And who really wants to volunteer to do that?
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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      Originally Posted by misterme View Post

      This is funny.... years ago I had someone say that I must not be any good if I have to advertise to get customers.
      Their punishment will be spending the rest of their life...not knowing. Don't ruin it for them by trying to explain. It's funnier if they never learn.
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      One Call Closing book https://www.amazon.com/One-Call-Clos...=1527788418&sr

      “Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise; seek what they sought.” - Matsuo Basho
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  • Profile picture of the author Evelyn Thomas
    I am a Marketer and I was asked to do sales for a while. It sacred me a lot, it was a combination of things that made me sick in my stomach.

    I was getting a fixed amount as my salary and was promised commission on every sale.

    But there was something that was just not right, I felt like I am sinking. It wasn't really fear of rejections cause I have been shot down way more than I can remember. Ideas, plans or strategy. So rejection wasn't it, fear of unknown may be, but I braved it out and gave it a shot.

    It is actually not bad. The person I met was very patient and understanding he actually took time to understand what I was saying and what would be the end result.

    Bottom line to a great extend you do work for the customer and the one cutting your cheque, because they are customers for him for you are just prospects.

    I guess the stress of target and how would the person react clubbed with whether or not it is for me, made it a bit too much.


    P.S: It was nice but I did not continue in the sales position.
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