You Don't Have To Be The Old Timey Sales Person 2023

One of the best sales/motivational speeches ever put on film was at the beginning of Glengarry Glen Ross, a depressing movie about a sales team whose leads are "bad" and are all about to get fired. The speech is delivered perfectly by Alec Baldwin as he tries to persuade the crew with insults and a profanity laced tirade. And the bottom line for each person is that they will lose they jobs if they can't close the sale.

Anyone considering a career in sales may want to reconsider after watching this flick, even though it's not as realistic as it claims to be. Sure there are industries that will give you leads and expect you to close them immediately, but that's not what selling is all about.

I've seen stereotypical "high pressure" sales people who talk fast and throw around numbers quickly. Those people don't last. Fortunately for most of us who buy stuff, the vast majority of sales reps out there talk in a calm voice, ask lots of questions and create a rapport. In other words, to succeed in sales, you have to sell yourself first.

Imagine you're the new kid in school. You know no one. You'll need to maybe join a club (networking group) to make a few friends (prospects). How will you make these friends? By being yourself and letting your sparkling personality emerge. Eventually people will want to hang out with you.

There are a lot more introverts in sales than you would expect and they do very well. And there are also more people getting into the industry who look less like a traditional sales rep and more like a casual beach goer. The coat and tie have been replaced by the golf shirt and slacks where I live, which is a resort area.

(Side note: I tell my life insurance clients that they can get either the tie or the coat, but they don't get both unless I come to their funeral. You need humor when discussing someone dying.)

My point to all of this is that when a sales manager tells you to dress one way or to talk less slangy or whatever, keep in mind that if you're comfortable, it will make your client comfortable. And by replacing a "sales pitch" with a conversation, discussing needs and budgets, you'll close more sales and make more money.

As always, stay healthy and keep plugging away.

Chris Castanes is a professional speaker who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. He's also the author of "You're Going To Be Great At This!", a humorous look at sales. For booking information, click here. He's also the president of Surf Financial Brokers selling life and disability insurance in several states.

Comments

My Short Post On Social Media

Are you leveraging social media to help your business? Are you posting daily and creating content like the "experts" say to do? Most importantly, are you getting results? I've tried using most of the more popular platforms for my insurance business, as well as my writing and speaking business. To say the results are "mixed" would be generous. This may be because I really haven't invested much into advertising on these platforms. The way I see it, when Facebook, for example, allows me to set up a free page for my business, that is like a "free trial" to see if I can get any interest in my product or service. After nearly 15 years of this trial period, I have garnered little to no business. One can come up with two arguments here. The first is why would you throw money at advertising when you haven't seen any returns. The other side is that "you could have done better if you had quit being a tight ass penny pincher." Fair enough. But ...

How To Prevent (Or Lessen) Momentum Killers

Have you had a great sales run, with the wind at your back as you continue to sell and make money, only to have some event or holiday slow down your momentum? It's happened to all of us. I compare it to running at full speed down a field, and out of nowhere comes a patch of mud and tar, designed specifically to slow you down and make you work harder. An example of this is the holiday season. For some industries, the end of the year is a great time to make those last minute sales and thin out inventories. But for others, it can be horrible. Let's face it, the holidays are about spending money on fun stuff, like electronics and clothes. No one is even thinking about buying insurance, unless they have to. "I can't spend any money on life insurance because I have to buy Christmas gifts," is what I hear each year. (Nice priorities, by the way!) Having been through this for a few years I now plan ahead. Instead of beating my head against a wall trying to get people to...

Keeping Your Pipeline Full

One of the biggest hurdles I've faced in my career has been finding prospects, moving them through the sales process, and turning them into clients, all while constantly being on the hunt for more prospects. It's an endless cycle. (In my industry, it can be even harder to sell something when people ultimately don't want to buy. If your client is a young couple with kids and a mortgage, do you think they would rather spend money on a vacation or a life insurance policy?) Having a good referral system and making networking effective are the best ways to start the process of keeping the pipeline full. Having a center of influence or creating a friendly relationship through networking can save a lot of time and be much less expensive than buying leads. One of the most effective things you can accomplish is to establish a "referral network". This may take some time to get going but if you can find four or five good sources who are willing refer to each other, you can...

You're Going To Be Great At This!

Search This Blog