Chapter 3: The Four Sales Myths Video Supplement
Sales is hard enough without voluntarily making it more difficult than it has to be. In this video I share with you four myths usually connected with the selling profession and what you can do about them.
Myth #1: Selling is a number’s game. This implies that if you simply do enough “stuff,” call enough people, write enough letters, make enough appointments, send enough postcards, return enough phone calls, you will be rewarded handsomely for your efforts.
I am not disagreeing that if you throw enough marbles into the air, one or maybe two will land in the cup situated ten feet away. There is something to be said about the Law of Numbers.
However, this does not take into consideration that you only have 50- 60 years left to get this sales-thing right. Playing by the numbers is another way for going to market by “spraying and praying.”
I would much prefer to think of sales as a game of darts. Once you have designated a “logical” target board to direct your efforts (darts), the chances of hitting a bulls-eye are dramatically improved. Selling, my friends, is a game of darts. Point. Aim. Toss. Adjust. Toss. Adjust. Toss.
Myth #2: Rejection comes with the territory. The old popular warning is, “In sales, you will be receiving more “no’s” than “yeses. Get jiggy with it” – or something like that.
My friends, if you spend three milliseconds bemoaning the fact that any one individual “rejected” you, it is my professional opinion that you just wasted three milliseconds of your life.
Repeat after me: “IT IS NOT ABOUT ME.”
Stop flattering yourself thinking that people rejected you. People don’t give a hoot about you. They don’t have time, inclination or reason to reject you.
They have decided not to purchase the service or product based on any one of a thousand reasons. And if you do happen to be one of those reasons, it is probably number 957 or higher.
If, for some reason, you do feel rejected after a sale goes south, and professionally said and done everything you could have, I want you to say the only two words that make sense at times like these: “WHO’S NEXT?”
Myth #3: Stress is inevitable. Stress is only a “given” if you insist on pretending that the world works differently than the world works. That’s when stress enters your life. Once you realize that you are living in an imperfect world and playing on an occasionally unfair game board, you will exhibit what I refer to as Emotional Intelligence and much, if not all, of your self-inflicted stress will be minimized.
Stress is optional my friends. Learn to see the world as it really is. And if betting between you and the world, the smart money is going to bet on the world.
Myth #4: You have to like people. To be successful in sales, you have to like people. Well fasten your seat belts because what I am about to tell you may rock your world. “I have been in sales since 1975 and I don’t like people.”
How are you feeling now? Allow me to explain. The “I like people” card is far too general for my liking. Reason being, I have been around the bases more than once and I have come across some pretty nasty, difficult, boring, obnoxious, rude, dishonest, manipulative, negatively-aggressive individuals, and I must say with all sincerity, I DON’T LIKE THESE SLUGS. You say – “But, Mike, you are a professional salesman and you are supposed to like people. These people are people.”
My polite response: “Yes. These people are people. But they are also slugs. I don’t like slugs. I have no time for slugs. I choose to have nothing to do with slugs. I won’t work with slugs.”
Haven’t we instructed our children that they will be judged by the company they keep? If this is true, you too will be judged by the company you keep. If you work with and happen to enjoy the company of slugs, what does that say about you? Are you feeling me?
Nobody ever said you have to do business with everybody. I don’t like people. I like the people I like. And not only do these people get my attention, they get my undivided attention coupled with all my energy, enthusiasm and effort.
Just as it makes sense to “pick your battles” it makes sense to “pick your customers.” My recommendation is to pick the people you like.