I just received an e-mail from a speaker named Hilary, explaining how someone was offended by something in one of his speeches.

It’s not the first time. 

 

He used to get complaints about selling his books and other programs at the end of his speeches.

You’ve heard of Hilary, though by another name – Zig Ziglar.

 

But unless you know Zig, you might not know that he’s the most sincere, ethical, and humble person you could ever meet.

He’s not a snake oil salesman trying to manipulate people into buying something they don’t need.

To the contrary, his materials have changed people’s lives and he believes he’s doing them a disservice if he doesn’t convince them to read his books or listen to his CD’s.

 

If your company provides a product or service that helps people, you’re doing them a disservice by not trying to get them to take advantage of those products or services.

 

The essence of customer service is serving people.

This includes selling them products or services they’ll benefit from, even when they don’t yet know how they’ll benefit.

Every Thursday I send out an email to tens of thousands of people, selling one of my DVD programs or teleseminars.

Each time, three things happen:

 

1. We get complaints from people who don’t like the sales pitch.

2. We get orders.

3. People who’ve bought the program in the past tell us how it’s benefited them.

 

We KNOW we’re serving our customers by doing this because the orders and positive feedback outnumber the complaints by about 500 to 1.

And because we send these programs out to try for free and let people return them without paying if they don’t think it’s for them, I put my money where my mouth is.

 

I’d be just as passionate if I were a chiropractor, insurance salesman, or CPA; because I believe they provide services that benefit people far beyond the fees they charge.

 

(I think CPA’s and chiropractors are underpaid for what they do).

So how do you get your team members to adopt a sales mentality?

They have to believe strongly in what your company does.

But what if you don’t believe in what your company sells?

Then you would be a snake oil salesman trying to manipulate people into buying things they won’t benefit from.

If that’s the case, find a job with a company that provides something you do believe in.