Selling successfully is not about “winging it” and hoping for the best. It requires control—the ability to positively guide your client in the right direction.
If you are going to successfully sell, you need to guide your prospect through every stage of the sales process. That is where control comes in.
But this can be misinterpreted as attempting to push the prospect through the sales process.
One notorious example of such a salesperson is the famous “used car salesman.” They see that you kind of like a particular car. They exaggerate the car’s features, just enough to make you want it. Seeing that you kind of like it, they push you into believing that you can afford it with their “easy financing.” They drive you right up until the “close,” and you end up signing the contract seemingly against your will. You get home and wonder how that salesman managed to get you to buy.
This is also known as “high-pressure sales,” and is an activity that makes people hate salespeople. It is the kind of thing that sends people running away when a salesperson comes anywhere near them.
Experience with such people is at the root of sales resistance. It may result in some closed sales, but it almost never results in a truly happy customer.
This kind of “selling” could also be accurately described as bullying.
Understanding Real Control
Many business owners, salespeople, and people, in general, have a distaste for the idea of control. This is usually due to experiences of being badly controlled in their lives.
When we are talking about control, we are not talking about bad control or a bad experience. We don’t mean being rude or pushy or in any way offensive. As discussed above, over the years salespeople who have acted this way have given sales a bad name.
When we talk about control, we’re talking about being able to discover, using good communication skills, the prospect’s goals, dreams, interests, and problems they’re looking to solve, what it is they’re looking to buy.
It is easier guiding someone through the process when you are totally certain that your product or service is a fit for that prospect. So, guiding them through the process is guiding them to the point where they realize—and you as the salesperson realize—that your product or service is a perfect match for them.
By both of you realizing that, we end up with the perfect definition for a sale, which is an exchange in which both parties win.
As a buyer yourself, which kind of sales experience would you rather have—the “bullying” kind, or the caring, guiding kind? Make sure you do unto others what you would want to be done to you.
