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Feeling comfortable in the sales role
By Sandy
“Don’t you just hate going to the mall? All those people are trying to give out free samples and constantly trying to sell something!”
“I’m so sick of having to sign up for emails just to get pushed down a sales funnel.”
These are two comments about sales people that I heard just yesterday alone. For a second, it’s awkward when I have to remind the other person (usually someone who knows me well enough to already know this), that I am, indeed, a sales person.
Every business owner is. But, I consider myself an extra-real sales person as I’ve had many sales jobs throughout my life. I just now happen to sell something that I’m also responsible for shipping (or making sure it gets shipped, at the very least).
For many people, they’ve gone their entire lives trying to avoid sales people. They’ve listed themselves on the do not call list. They’ve unsubscribed from “junk” mail, and they’ve adverted eye contact in the mall.
And you’re probably no exception.I’m not even an exception, and I’ve been in sales for years!
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But now… you’re finding yourself having to make sales calls. Having to meet clients and ask them for money. Having to “network.” Do interviews. Put yourself out there. Constantly.
It’s no wonder I see a lot of people very worked up and stressed about their role as a sales person. I constantly hear people asking how they can avoid being sales-y, or if a sales technique is sleazy.
But really, what it all boils down to two things:
Unfortunately, there is no instant solution for feeling more comfortable, or gaining the necessary communication skills. I can give you lots of tips and tricks, but it takes time – like any other great skill worth mastering.
But I will fill you in on a little secret that I’ve been using for over a decade. I call it, “Whoever cares less.”
When I was fresh out of college, I did a somewhat stupid (but 100% exciting) thing. I moved across the country with nothing more than what fit in the trunk of my car and the money I got from relatives when I graduated (about $700).
At the time, $700 felt like a lot, and I thought I’d have plenty of time to find a job.
After two weeks of filling out applications and handing in resumes, I started to panic. So, I took out the yellow pages and looked up “event planner” because that’s what I wanted to do. Plan events. I drove to each location in that yellow book one by one until someone hired me and agreed to let me start the next day.
Unfortunately, they didn’t give me the event planning job. But, they did give me a sales job. I’d done sales before, so I knew what I was getting into. And I knew I didn’t want to stay long.
A week went by and I had made enough to cover my bills for the upcoming month. Good start.
Another week went by and now I was a couple of months ahead. This took a lot of pressure off. And suddenly, I didn’t need the job any longer. I didn’t really care if I made another sale or not. My conversations with clients stopped being all about my products. I didn’t really care if I called 100 leads a day (our goal), or if I wasted time chatting with a client or two that I found particularly interesting.
The conversations became more fluid. I asked more questions about them – what did they do? What does their company sell? What’s it like working in D.C. or Iowa or wherever I was calling? I was inquisitive.
And that’s when my sales really sky rocketed.
In the meantime, there were lots of guys in the office (not too many women worked there), who wanted to know what I was doing differently? After all, I was a 22 year old female, in a man’s sales room, outselling everyone else on the floor.
I told them, “whoever cares less, wins.”
I could hear them on the phone getting right to the pitch, stressing about every no, not wanting to “waste their time” on what they considered unqualified leads after an initial rejection.
My approach was the opposite. Chatting, relationship building, inquiring… that took up a majority of my time on the phone. It was fun, easy, and effective.
And I still believe it today. Am I saying to travel through life with an “I don’t care attitude?” No, that’s definitely not the case.
The lesson here is that no one likes a sales call. And no one cares about your products. Let go of your attachment to both. Don’t care whether they say yes or know. Just focus on them. The person. Be inquisitive. Have fun. Enjoy the moment. Be interested.
Everything else just falls into place.
Over a decade later, I still use this approach to sales conversations. And it still works.
Next time you’re on a sales call, give it a try. Let go of the expectations, the stress and the formality of it all. And let me know how it goes 🙂
Do you have another tip you use to feel more comfortable in the sales role? Let me know in the comments below.
