A while ago, I had the opportunity to shadow a top-performing salesperson who sells an innovative service to small businesses. We spent a high-energy day visiting business owners to see if this service was a good fit for them.
It wasn't easy to get past the receptionists. They sized us up as one of two things: a customer or an inconvenience. They went from smile to sourpuss the instant they realized we were selling something. And even if you get past the gatekeeper, the decision maker isn't usually too happy to see you either.
Staring down grumpy receptionists and business owners for one day is a fun challenge. Engaging in these unfriendly interactions every day for weeks, months, quarters, and even years can be a grind. But you have numbers to make so you take shortcuts to close the sale. Unfortunately, shortcuts often lead to a trap door right out of the sale as well. Here are the usual shortcuts:
- Be vague and evasive -- Some people in my high-performing client's industry don't tell receptionists who they work for, even when asked. If you're asked a direct question (especially one as basic as "What's your name and who do you work for?") and you dodge and weave, there are only two natural responses: confusion (bad) followed by suspicion (worse). It's better to have credible answers to legitimate questions.
Here's why shortcuts make a difficult sales job even harder: customers (that's you, me, and every person on the planet) have highly tuned BS detectors and don't like the smell of it. So the bad news about shortcuts is that customers sniff them out. The worse news is that once you have the stench of shortcuts on you, you can't get it off. In that person's mind, you will be a pest perpetually.
Shortcuts aren't unique to salespeople. Anyone who gets things done through coercive influence versus building relationship blows their main currency -- their own credibility. No matter what or who you're selling (a product, your IT project, your R&D brainchild), it gets easier when your credibility is high and just about impossible when your cred drops.
The guy I shadowed took none of these shortcuts but he's not normal. And because so many salespeople do take shortcuts, the door is wide open for someone like him. Salespeople who build a sustainable career do it because they differentiate their products, services, companies -- and most importantly themselves -- by resisting the temptation to take shortcuts.
Which shortcut do you and your organization need to replace with a better long-run approach?