Why people hate salespeople

If you're in sales, you need to be aware of the perception other people have. Not only are they mentally comparing you to others in your industry, but really they're comparing you to all the other salespeople they've interacted with and even stories they've heard from others!

Your sales competition is every other salesperson out there, so it's important to be different. One negative experience can create a ripple effect of hate directed toward all salespeople.

One Saturday, my wife and I were doing some work around our house to prepare for an event we were hosting that weekend. We were both somewhat sweaty when suddenly the doorbell rang. We confirmed that neither of us were expecting anyone, then I headed to the front door.

I opened the front door and stepped outside so our dogs wouldn't get out, and there were two salespeople from the local cable company standing there. They introduced themselves, then the first guy said, "We noticed you don't have our service."

"You're correct," I responded.

"Why not?" he asked.

I replied, "We had some bad experiences with your company, started shopping around, and now we have a package with another company."

He responded, excited, "Well, I bet we can beat it!"

Now, since we had some bad experiences previously, price wasn't the biggest thing that mattered to me. But I like to give salespeople the benefit of the doubt, so I shared what we had and how much we were paying.

The guy that had been talking got really quiet and said, "We can't beat that."

Suddenly the other guy in the back piped up. "But wait! We haven't told you about our new DVR system!" Then he went into full-blown features and benefits mode about their new DVR package.

I finally got him to realize the DVR package didn't matter to me. Then he said, "But our internet is faster! Let me tell you about that!"

Eventually I got him to realize that didn't matter to me either. I finally asked, "How are you guys picking the houses you go to?"

"We're assigned to certain zip codes, then we go door to door to everyone that doesn't have our service."

So that day alone, dozens of people were having similar negative experiences with these two salespeople!

Negative experiences like that have a ripple effect, and that's why other people end up hating salespeople. I have a background in sales and train and coach salespeople and sales leaders. But the next time the doorbell rang on a Saturday afternoon, do you think I was as quick to answer it?

Knowing that salespeople like that are your actual competition, do you have tools in your tool belt to be different? Do you have tactics you can use to get past people's defenses and have a real conversation?