The Death of the Hard Sale

One thing that I remember from my first sales training class, when I was working in door-to-door sales for a office supply & equipment distributor in NYC. The in-house “sales guru” emphatically teaching us that we need to be ENTHUSIASTIC about our products and that everyone needs what we have.

He said, “When you're in front of a prospect or on the phone with them, you need to sound enthusiastic, have “up” energy, or else you’ll lose the sales momentum.” 

And the infamous Law of Average...call on 40-50 businesses a day, speak to 8-10 decision makers and open 3-5 new accounts a day. 

Talk about old school.

What happens, in this day and age, when you call a prospect on the phone and what they hear is incredible enthusiasm and excitement? Or better yet, if you walk into a business with your nicely pressed suit, shined shoes and briefcase? 

It’s over at “hello”. 

Defenses mechanisms immediately spike up. Gate-keepers are armed with defense strategies to offset your Colgate smile & charming small talk.

        Show & Tell From The Very Beginning...Expect Poor Results

If you've been exposed to the sales world in one form or the other, you've probably heard of the infamous "Show & Tell".

That's where you're invited to come to your prospect's office and make a presentation in the hopes you'll persuade them to buy what you have.

Just to note, bravo to you for even getting to this point. It does take an enormous amount of effort & consistency to land meetings. To be exact, proper meetings where there's the chance to actually make a deal happen.

Of course, that's the plan, but not usually the reality.

If you've been one of those sales people, laptop and PowerPoint in tow, pitching your solution as you click from slide to slide, you know how it feels when at the end you hear: "That was a great presentation, thanks for coming in, we'll let you know."

You pack up your gear, your ego stroked, and then the "False Hope" drug kicks in.

"False Hope" is that rush of fleeting feelings throughout your body, fueled by how proud you felt you did - by pitching your solution and hoping for the best.

If you've been there, then you know the highs and you definitely know the lows.

You can't help but to end up chasing your potential customer for the truth of where they stand, only to get blocked by their voice mail and then to make matters worse, zero responses to your numerous emails.

Please don't take this the wrong way, there's absolutely nothing wrong with being invited to meet with your potential customer face-to-face.

However, if you've only been trained to think of selling in a linear-fashion - a step-by-step process driven my how good your sales pitch is - then life isn't going to be much fun much longer.

The Selling Game Has Changed

The reality is that potential customers aren't going to trust you enough to tell you where you stand, if all you're doing to them is trying to persuade them to buy your solution.

On the other hand, if you're willing to have an open mind and shift your mindset away from focusing on "closing", but rather on problem-solving, you might find your results and how you feel about yourself change for the better.

You might be wondering, how does this work in a real life situation? 

When You Land A Meeting...What To Bring To The Meeting

When you meet with someone for the first time, please do yourself the favor and leave your laptop, powerpoint & bag in the car.

Carry nothing with you in your hands.

Actually, you can have a small notepad and pen in your pocket or purse. Other than that, nothing is best.

Why? Because it's disarming and sends the message you're there to have a discussion and not a one-way presentation. You're not assuming that what you have to offer is a fit for them. 

During The Meeting

When you sit down face-to-face, consider opening up the dialogue by letting them know your core philosophy when it comes to the sales process so they feel safe sharing the truth of their situation. An example can be something like this:

"I hope you're comfortable with the idea that we don't believe in pressuring people or assuming you need what we have. Our motivations revolves around being problem-solver vs someone purely focusing on just trying to close a sale. Are you ok with that?"

Psychologically, a statement like this really puts the other party at ease and allows a natural conversation to unfold. Kind of like a conversation that you have with a friend; with no pressure & completely relaxed so that the communication exchange flows. 

Don't Speed Up...Slow Down

It’s amazing how conditioned we have become to the old mental frameworks of traditional selling that have taught us to speed things up when we sense a sales opportunity.

In the back of our mind, we have a voice that says: “Keep moving things forward, don’t create any silence, increase the speed to be sure you don’t lose this sales opportunity.”

That voice needs to say goodbye to you forever so you learn how to draw in your prospective clients, not push them away.

Sometimes going slower actually means moving things along at a pace that's sustainable. In the world of quotas and benchmarks things have gotten watered down and sales conversations have somehow become surface level & NOT authentic. 

Final Thoughts For You To Ponder About

Based on what I illustrated above, do you think the days of hard selling are numbered?

When you show that you care about your potential client as a human being more than you do about boosting your bottom line, you become a trusted authority & resource instead of a pushy salesperson.

You never have to feel slimy, obnoxious or manipulative during sales conversations again. 

What are your thoughts on the death of the hard sale? How inclined are you to engage with a sales professional that behaves this way?