For tangibles, such as toothpaste and TVs, 'Marketing' is distinct from 'Selling'. For them Marketing aims at getting consumers to remember the name, and trust the brand, while selling is usually just order-taking.
This distinction doesn't apply to our business, because we want to create clients, not just customers. Marketing, for us, doesn't stop when the selling begins. It's an ongoing process continuing through the whole of our relationship with each prospect and client.
A relationship that we can damage by switching to a 'sales stance'. This is when we ignore 'permission marketing', and try to control the prospect with various manipulative techniques that debase both ourselves and the prospect.
So, should we forget about 'selling'?
Some decades ago, I explained to students at a Banff School that an interview is like a walk through a woods, where you know that all the paths ultimately lead out.
You're acting as the guide to your prospect, not by having him follow you, but by asking him at each intersection, "Which path do you wish to take?". Then telling him, if he asks, what to expect on each path. And letting him lead you.
Eventually, your prospect will lead you out of the woods, no matter which paths he chooses. Most important of all, each decision he made along the way was his own. Not yours.
Do you end up with a sale? Not always. But a satisfied client? Yes!
We could call this 'permission selling', but it's really 'permission marketing' carried to its logical conclusion.
Marketing and Selling - To learn more about this author, visit Donald F. Pooley's Website.
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Donald F. Pooley
(Visit Donald's Website)
Don Pooley, the author of this article,
allows you to publish
it if you include these credit lines:
Copyright 2005, Donald F. Pooley, Inc.
Don Pooley CLU, CFP, CHFC, "The
Advisor's Advisor" has shared
his marketing know-how with audiences of
life insurance men
in all major Canadian cities, London,
Australia, Chicago, New
York, San Francisco, Hong Kong, and
Singapore, and now in his
free ezine. To get more ideas on marketing
your services, plus
free ebooks, subscribe now at www.eTIP.ca/
a>
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