Attract the Right Job Or Clientele:
Can You Sell Without Selling Out?
Note: Andy Paul provides today’s guest Blog, ‘Can You Sell Without Selling Out?’
Andy Paul
Andy Paul is a bestselling author, sales leader, speaker, and global sales advisor focused on human-first selling. Through his bestselling books and industry-leading sales podcasts, he has reached millions of sellers who know that process, methodology and technology don’t win deals; people do. Andy’s latest book, Sell Without Selling Out, is on sale at Amazon now.
It was fortuitous that Andy Paul and I met long ago via a sales group. He is highly successful and an admirable person from whom to learn. The words he writes for sales and business growth reveal his wisdom and exemplary methods for conducting business.
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Can You Sell Without Selling Out?
My first sales training class took place in the basement of a Holiday Inn in Pasadena, California, a block from the route of the annual New Year’s Day Rose Parade. I sat in a darkened room with thirty other newbie salespeople, watching a video of a creepily sincere, slick-haired con man.
The top trainer, with a demeanor reminiscent of an early Sunday morning TV preacher, was teaching us how to sell:
- Open a conversation with a phony icebreaker.
- Bully through objections.
- How to trial close with misdirection.
- Use persuasion to hammer the prospect into submission.
At the time, this behavior was considered a state-of-the-art sales technique. It made my skin crawl. I asked myself, “What human being acts this way?” Unfortunately, mainstream sales methods haven’t progressed much since then.
This training class took place during my third week on the job for the number two computer company in the world. It was my very first sales job. In my first two weeks, I’d tagged along on sales calls with several senior sellers from my branch office. From those ride-alongs, I’d already developed a persistent sense of dread about what I would face after returning from my initial sales training.
New Job: Selling Without Selling Out – or With Selling Out – That is the question?
On the first morning of my training class, there were lots of false smiles and firm handshakes from all the new sales reps. As we went around the room and introduced ourselves, some representatives humble-bragged about all the cold calls they’d already made. Others went into detail about the deals they’d closed in their first weeks on the job.
Cold calls? Closed deals? I felt sick to my stomach. Was I falling behind already? On top of everything else, there was something off about nearly every person in my class. At first, I couldn’t put my finger on it. Then it hit me. Everyone was trying so hard to be ‘salesy.’ It was as if they had all put on a uniform that required them to act the part of a prototypical perky, pushy salesperson. I couldn’t be that person.
At least outwardly, I was the least ‘salesy’ person in the room. I was shy and self-conscious in group settings. The role-plays we did in class were mortifying. It wasn’t just that I was introverted. I was so far out of my comfort zone that I’d completely forgotten where I misplaced it.
In less than two weeks, I’d be back in my branch office, driving out into the field every morning to make dozens of cold calls on unsuspecting buyers. As regular human beings, they each instinctively recoiled in the face of the cringe-inducing sales methods I’d just learned.
That, in a nutshell, was my problem. I couldn’t be that person. I wouldn’t be that person. To sell, would I have to become a sellout? I felt the conflict that nearly every seller feels at multiple points in their career. To do this job, would I have to become someone I wouldn’t recognize when I looked at myself in the mirror?
Years later, I’m still here. How? I enjoy a fulfilling and financially rewarding sales career by being myself. I’ve sold everything from women’s shoes to computers and complex communications systems.
I closed hundreds of millions of dollars in products and services. It’s not because I figured out how to be “salesy.” Instead, I constantly experimented with developing my own buyer-centric human-first sales process. Doing so enabled me to control my destiny.
I’ve written my new book, Sell Without Selling Out, so you can too.
Look, being in sales is hard enough. It’s a tough job, a lonely job. You’re on an island all by yourself with your monthly number. Why make it harder by selling in a way that turns you into someone you don’t recognize?
You have a choice to make: You can sell out your future, your values, and yourself for possible short-term gain. Or stay true to yourself and create success on your terms. I call that Selling In. Selling In aligns how you conduct business with who you are as a person. And it aligns with how your buyer wants to work with a seller.
Take the Assessment: Learn to Sell Without Selling Out!
Selling Out and Selling In sit on the opposite ends of a spectrum. To determine where you are on the Salesy Spectrum, you can take my free 10-question assessment.
Now, what would it take to move you more toward Selling In?
You get to decide which actions will enable you to become the type of seller you want to be:
- One who helps the buyer,
or
2. One who pushes a product or service on the buyer in a way that leaves both of you feeling dirt
and a bit ashamed to make eye contact.
You can become the standout seller who doesn’t have to sell out to get what you want out of your sales career. I wrote Sell Without Selling Out for you.
There’s none of that BS here. It is not another work of fiction about how you can morph overnight into a sales superstar. It is about choosing to turn your back on the old salesy behaviors that are still in modern sales. The ancient sales tradition includes behaviors that make everyone cringe, including you.
It’s about learning how to become consistently proficient at selling simply by understanding what’s most important to your buyers—and then helping them get it.
Perhaps most importantly, Sell Without Selling Out is about learning how to experience the energy, impact, and fulfillment that come from being the best version of yourself in any sales situation. It’s full of road-tested ideas that you can quickly and easily use in your Selling today.
The read and actions are on your terms. You’ll learn how to take control of how you sell to help your buyer achieve the thing that’s most important to them. And it will help you achieve what’s most important to you.
“At the heart of taking control are four core sales behaviors. These are the Sell In Pillars: Connection, Curiosity, Understanding, Generosity.
Everything that I’ve accomplished in my professional and personal life has stemmed from how I’ve embodied these four behaviors to help others achieve the most important things to them.
In Sell Without Selling Out, you’ll learn how to embrace these pillars and use them to become the very best sales version of yourself. Finally, I’ll show you how to use Selling In to shorten the buyer’s journey and accelerate your sales.
Sell in or sell out. The choice is up to you. Make yours by reading Sell Without Selling Out.
For More Insights: Visit Elinor’s Amazon Author Page
“Communicate to Attract Interest”
Be A Story-Teller
As the CEO of Smooth Sale, after her near-death experience, Stutz adapted the motto, “Believe, Become, Empower.”Nice Girls DO Get the Sale is an International Best-Selling and Evergreen book – among the classics; HIRED! Helped many to secure the job they desired.
Related Blog Stories:
Sales Tips: Sell Without Selling Out
- Work with Integrity.
- Admit when you do not know something, and schedule a time to revisit with an answer.
- Promptly follow-up to not waste the time of another.
- Ask of clientele how they prefer to buy.
- Know that ‘Trust is the Soul of Sales.’
- Credibility and trust sell better than any other sales technique.
- Take an improv class to get comfortable in front of unfamiliar people and groups, too.
- Use social media to select the prospective clients of interest.
- Upon meeting someone for the first time, attempt to get their perspective first by asking a question.
- Sell without selling out so that you may also Celebrate Success!
Today’s insights are provided to help you achieve the Smooth Sale!
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