Motivating Non-Sales People to Sell

It’s like seeing a cute girl and not making a move. The worry and anxiety are worse than actually asking her out. “Selling is facilitating a mutual exchange of pleasure” Ash Ambirge. Dude, you are doing the girl a favor by introducing yourself because you understand your worth and value. The question to ask yourself if you don’t like to sell is “would anxiety exist if you were 100% confident in what you were selling?” As soon as I meet you Taylor Swift, you will be thrilled to meet me!

Why don’t we like to sell? Some people think it’s like going to a job interview everyday and knowing you never will land the job because you constantly “rinse and repeat.” Others have this fear of rejection. Hesitation, nervousness, fear, and trepidation around selling don’t actually come from asking for money but from the worrying that lead up to the sale. My goal here is to motivate you to understand your worth and net feel like a fraud.

First, we must tackle the pain of selling head on. Selling like asking a girl out can be painful for some people. We tend to focus on the pain leading up to the sale and not the pleasure that both will receive from the relationship (product/service satisfaction and money). Many of us, feel pressure to perform and forget that selling is about earning respect, trust, and awareness. Similar to my past blog post on “5 Networking Tips for Introverts,” many of us are on the mental struggle bus because of how we psychologically frame the situation. Commonly, we approach networking or selling as about us making money. However, successful sales people understand that people like to business with people they like and trust. If we just met, I may like you but I certainly am not going to be ready to trust you! Thus, the pain of selling can be alleviated when we change our mindset to discovery and building relationships.

How would you feel if you were helping fulfill a prospective clients needs? How would you feel if you were helping a friend overcome their challenges with the perfect solution? How would you feel if you were a rockstar salesperson? Your answers to these three questions are where we can begin. A good attitude paired with good habits will be the catalyst for making selling feel less manipulative, annoying, and boring and feel more like you are being sociable, learning, and helping.

A case study. I worked in sales for PepsiCo. I grew my territory by 134% which translated into $1,000,000 of growth. However, the first few months of “selling” weren’t much of your typical selling at all. I was handling urgent issues in the territory. I was cleaning out back stock by ordering less product. What I was doing was building relationships. I would ask relevant questions to store managers (Walmart, Safeway, Target, etc). Questions with answers they were concerned with. Then, it’s important to note I waited for them to answer. Most importantly, I listened to what they had to say with an intent to understand their challenges, wants, and needs.

For example, I had one account that was more concerned with their pepsi vendors being clean and tidy with their space. So I would have my merchandising team spend extra time cleaning the shelves while I focused on having only what was needed for back stock without product overflow. Fast forward a few months, this account that struggled with its CSD (Carbonated Soft Drink) vendors (i.e. – Pepsi, Coke, 7up) allowed me to have 3 times more product space and an incremental trailer for back stock that held 25 pallets of product!

Another example, a different account was concerned more with profit and margins. Yet, they also wanted to feel their needs were being fulfilled. So I ordered for a team to come into the account and clean all of the Pepsi coolers so they looked spotless. I also took advantage of every coupon deal we had; moreover, each time I serviced the account I would spin 2 liter bottles so the Pepsi emblem faced forward and placed coupons on all the product accordingly. Turned out, the account manager allowed me to place 3 permanent high margin displays and 2 incremental coolers near the check stands. Also, at one time he allowed me to have over 10 high profile product presentations on display. Ultimately, we both created that account to be the highest producing WinCo of Pepsi products in the region!

When we make selling fun we actually produce more results. Imagine that! And here’s a mind blower, sales people are a necessity. People need you to sell goods and services. Whether we’re networking or selling, we are providing desired value. People buy feelings and they way we make them feel is what they remember. Embrace the day as a fun opportunity to meet people and listen to what they want. Then, give them what they want with. Facilitate a mutual exchange of pleasure by asking the right questions, listening to understand, and knowing your products worth to helping them. When we do a good job as salespeople we are marketing ourselves. Think about this, why do 20% of the salespeople attract 80% of the business? Similarly, why do women flock to you when you have a girlfriend? When we do it well (market ourselves), we’re attracting women who are thrilled to engage in a relationship with us! So go over and ask her out! Quit thinking and start doing. Game on mates!