Sales, It’s Not About You

During a corporate coaching session a key sales person was sharing frustration about not receiving a response from a client.  That can be terribly frustrating without a doubt.  What I asked as a follow-up was this… Is the question you are asking “when can I talk to you?” or “can I send you our materials?”  Yes.  Yes it was.  Sure that is one way to go about it.  However it is not the most productive way.

The issue becomes are your pitches, proposals, etc. based in a tone demonstrating what it will do for you, or what it will do for the one you are having the conversation with?  It all comes back to the Teddy Roosevelt quote (sometimes also cited as a John Maxwell quote) ““Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.”  And frankly have you ever been impressed with someone trying to sell you something or convince you of something when their argument is based in how it will benefit them?  Not likely.

No truer words have been spoken regarding sales, or any relationship for that matter, than Zig Ziglar’s, “You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”