2 Types of Salesmen I Despise, and 1 I Love

Author: Frank Bertalli  /  Category: Tips and Tricks

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Over the years there have been all sorts of sales training programs and gurus come and go. Most of their techniques are outdated and ineffective today though I find that there are still plenty of salespeople who still use them and plenty more with no sales skills at all.

1. The Hoarder – You’ve probably seen the show on television about the people who gather up all sorts of things and bring them home until they pile up to the sealing. A lot of this stuff they never use, or even remember where they put it, but it gives them some sort of security. I have seen salespeople do pretty much the same thing. They want “Protected Territories”; blocks of clients that they can put their name on as “Theirs”. They build up databases and contact lists but they rarely make any productive contact. They have no idea who these people are or what they do. They just sit in their clutter hoping that “one of their clients” will place an order. They call this selling.

2. The Closer – You’ve probably seen this show too! It’s about a detective who is a classy dresser and has a persona that you can’t ignore. She always seems to know what you are going to say before you even think it. She is well rehearsed in manipulating her subjects to a place where she can make them say what they really don’t want to say. I have salespeople call on me that take the very same approach. Dealing with them feels like it does when your dentist is putting you under. You sort of feel your faculties slipping away as they talk. But, the one thing you quickly realize (and brings you back to your senses) is that they have no interest in you or your business. They have been trained and sent in to get a sale and that’s all they care about. They call this selling.

If you want a sales pitch about something, within a few key strokes, you can find out volumes of conflicting information about it. But, without actual experience with the product or service, who are you going to believe? Someone who has you on their list? Or, someone who has you in their sights? I don’t think so.

A rarity among sales people is what I like to call the Confidant, my favorite type of salesperson. My first contact with this person usually involves relationship building. It might be a friend request on Facebook or a contact request on LinkedIn followed by a casual meeting or call where I find out a little about what they do and why they might want to know me. More important is that they come away knowing a lot about me, my business, what I’m working on, and what I lack in completing the process.

They often start by complimenting me on my business and asking questions about how long I’ve been around, what I think sets me apart from my competition, and where I think my business is headed in the future. I’m no different than anybody else, I like to talk about me and I love people who show an interest in what I do. I could talk for hours about the Sales Incentives and Travel Certificates I have designed; what makes them work and why they might fail. All the while they are taking notes.

Over the next weeks and months I’ll get a several business articles “shared” with me that have some connection with our business or personal conversations. A few days later I will get a follow up call for my thoughts. It will be rare that I go over a week without some kind of social/business contact with this person. Now this is what I call selling!

The Confidant doesn’t use a broad brush to build their prospect list and they don’t try to out-smart their prospects either. They focus on the clients who have the greatest potential, who they feel they can connect with personally, and then spend their time building confidence in that relationship. When it is time for me to make a purchase, their contact information is always fresh in my mind and at my fingertips and I will call and close the sale for them.

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