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Guest post by: Donald F. Pooley Become an Author

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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.

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