Intro To Selling- Simplenomics Style

Let’s get back to what we’re here for…Selling.

Whether you realize it or not, we all sell from the day we’re born til the day we die.

A baby sells it’s need/desire for nourishment by screaming and crying. Our three did, anyway.

As a young boy, I tried to sell my Mama on all my ideas. She bought very few, to her credit. I need a new bike, I need new shoes, I need a rocket kit, a new model to build, new basketball, new glove, whatever.

She convinced me that they were all wants and I’ve been trying to distinguish between the two ever since. She didn’t have a hard time convincing me, as we were dirt poor and rarely bought any of those things. I did get them, however, by selling someone on the idea of letting me work for them to get the item in question.

I’ve sold something everyday of my life since then.

Some days I try to sell my wife on the idea of cooking my favorite meal for dinner. Somedays I try to sell my daughters on the idea of doing their chores a little better.

On every road of life, there’s an idea waiting to be sold. Whether or not you get it done determines your success as a salesman.

Nobody wants to be a failure at anything, especially selling. It will determine your lot in life, whether you believe it or not. How well you sell makes the difference between that “dream job” you always wanted and taking a job you need but don’t care for.

The simplenomics ways of selling are fundamental, tested and proven.

We use theories and experiments, but not every day. And only when they will teach us something, not just for kicks.

It’s a way to sell that’s intense, aggressive, hard-hitting and factual. The customer is not tricked or deceived into buying, he’s shown all the benefits of doing business with us and see’s all the ways we will work for him and with him. We give him the facts, the reasons why and do it in a firm, but respectful way. And we always ask for the order. Always. If we don’t get it, we immediately ask for the next one. You’d be surprised how often a customer will agree to give you the next order. It seems to be a trait of humans to want to not hurt others feelings.

I’m in the business of selling to get sales, not for my health. They keep up with sales just like they keep score on the field of play…for a reason. To determine a winner.

I’m hoping that as you read this, that you’ll be able to join in and offer comments and advice. I don’t know all there is about selling, but I hope to. If you’re not interested in learning, I’m not going to be someone you want to read. I’m all about learning from each day’s work.

Human nature is a funny thing. People can be steered, if you know how to do it. They react to pressures and situations in different ways. Seeing how they react, documenting that reaction and using it in the future is what seperates the big winners from the average salepeople. If you want to learn about average, try this post.

In today’s world, the salesman is an integral part of the team. Without sales, there’s nothing to market. Without sales, there’s no accounts to be receivable, no paper to push. Without sales, there’s no need for people, so no need for HR. Without sales, there’s no need for management. Looks like sales drive the company, from where I sit.

There are so many facets to selling, that if anyone tells you he knows all there is about selling, you’ve just met a person who needs an attitude adjustment or a new position.

If a saleman is smart, he’ll watch and learn something every day. He’ll never think that anyone is below learning from and he’ll make it his personal quest to build his web of contacts as wide and deep as he can. No person is without merit.

One Friday, I had the pleasure of helping a little elderly woman in a brick showroom pick bricks for her to “put around her flowers”. I sold her, or let her sell herself about 100 bricks and even went out on the yard and loaded them for her, one by one, into her trunk. The customer service rep who was behind the desk in that showroom asked me why I would concern myself with a sale that probably netted our company about $20 and me personally $0. She reminded me of my grandmother, I said. And I’d want people to treat her that way.

The following Monday, I get a call from the CSR in that showroom. There’s a guy on the phone who wants to talk to the guy that helped his mother with her flower garden bricks. Give him my cell number, I told him.

He calls and wants to know if I can meet him in our showroom. Sure thing, I tell him. When he gets there he asks me the same question. Why ? Why did you spend an hour with a little old woman and 100 bricks ? ‘Cause she reminded me of my grandmother, I told him, and she’d whip my butt if I didn’t treat another little old woman with respect and help her with her flower garden.

Well, he says, anyone who can take the time to do that for such a simple reason deserves all the business he can get. And with that he shook hands with me and gave me the orders for the brick on the next 30 houses he was going to build. He was a home-builder in our metro area and he was very thankful that I’d been so nice to his mother. That little act of respect helped me sell 600,00 brick. They went out the door at my price, too.

Tomorrow we’ll continue our intro to selling and then we’ll get into the meat and ‘tater’s of this thing we all do.