April 9, 2010
ACE Newsletter
Sales is a Service, Not a Scam
We took the liberty of posting this nice article from Steve Strauss of AOL small
business about sales. We constantly remind artists that selling their art is not trying to foist an unwanted item
on an unwilling person, but rather they are helping them get something that they already want!
This article is timely as we have just completed a
seminar on Representing Yourself in Public, including talking with clients and collectors. We are not talking about
how to manipulate people to do what you want, but rather how to keep yourself from unwittingly chasing away
potential collectors of your art. For more info click the link below:
Represent Yourself in Public
Enjoy the article.
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Sales Is a Service, Not a Scam
By STEVE STRAUSS,
Q: I love my business but one area that I have a hard time with is the sales aspect of it.
"Selling" people stuff they are not sure they need is icky to me. Is there some way to make it easier?
Sarah
A: There are two ways to think about sales, and one is infinitely easier than the other.
The difficult way is to think about sales in the traditional manner -- that you are trying to get someone
to buy something that they may or may not need and it is your job is to talk them into it.
Well, no wonder it is hard and seems unappealing. Who wants to do that? And who would return to a business where
that is the sales attitude? Not many people.
The whole idea that sales is a manipulative game where the salesperson uses tricks to out-wit the customer
is very old fashioned, and worse, wrong. Thinking of sales in that manner makes it a zero-sum game where
there is a winner and a loser, where your customer is the enemy, and where it is your job to get the best of him or
her.
Instead, having spoken with some of the most successful salespeople in the world, what I know is that sales
is not a scam, but a service. It is when you begin to change your way of looking at sales from one of
manipulation to one of assistance that sales transforms from taking to giving.
The best salespeople usually see themselves as being in service to their customers.
In this paradigm, it is not your job as a salesperson to sell customers stuff, but rather, it is
your job to understand what their needs are and then assist them in solving those needs. It is when you do that
that you build trust, create rapport, and, oh yes, by the way, get the sale.
I think it was Tom Hopkins, one of the great salesmen ever, who told me that salespeople need to remember that they
have two ears but one mouth for a reason: They need to listen twice as often as they speak. Indeed, if you think it
is your job as a salesperson to speak and sell all of the time, you will indeed find selling hard, and worse,
morally compromising.
But if, on the other hand, you remember that you need to listen more, you will likely have a completely
different sales experience. Your listening will uncover what it is that your customer needs. It may be
what you are selling, and hopefully it is, but if not, saying so can also reap long-term dividends.
Example: I just heard a story about a woman whose brakes on her car were squealing. She took the car to a local gas
station and they told her she needed new brakes. She then decided to go to a mechanic she had heard about. He
discovered that the only problem was that she had a rock stuck in the brake pad. Yes, it cost him $300, but he will
earn that ten-fold over the years from his new long-term customer.
How did he do that -- by selling her brakes she didn't need? No, he did it by listening and helping her solve her
problem.
That's the secret to making selling easy.
One last note...
Here is what one artist had to say about Representing
Yourself in Public audio download and workbook:
I ordered your
"Representing Yourself" pdf file and audio last week and had not until this morning had the opportunity to listen
to the audio. I am gearing up for the beginning of my outdoor show season in a few weeks and you did it again, you
gave me fantastic tools...and I do prefer the audio version, it's like I am there listening to you in person. I
have done many outdoor shows and am thrilled that finally someone has some valuable advice for me; I have
encountered all of the things you mention. If anyone who does shows has not purchased this, it's the best $9.95 you
can spend! What a deal!
Thanks, Theresa and Steve : )
Pat
You can listen to a clip of the
audio and download the package at Represent Yourself
Until later,
Theresa and Steve
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