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SERVICES SELLING I DIDNT RAISE YOU TO BE A SALESMAN
Written by: Mike SchultzArticle Overview: By Mike Schultz and John Doerr Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be salesboys Don't let 'em sell siding or drive them big trucks Have 'em be consultants and accountants and such. Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be salesboys 'Cause they'll never stay home or they're on their cell phone Even with family around. With all due apologies to Willie Nelson, I am sure this was the sentiment of most of our parents. Yes, be a lawyer or accountant or even (heaven forbid) a consultant, but please don't ever come home and declare, “Mom, I found my calling. I am going to be a salesperson!”
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SERVICES SELLING I DIDNT RAISE YOU TO BE A SALESMAN
By Mike Schultz and John Doerr
Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be salesboys
Don't let 'em sell siding or drive them big trucks
Have 'em be consultants and accountants and such.
Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be salesboys
'Cause they'll never stay home or they're on their cell phone
Even with family around.
With all due apologies to Willie Nelson, I am sure this was the sentiment of most of our parents. Yes, be a lawyer or accountant or even (heaven forbid) a consultant, but please don't ever come home and declare, “Mom, I found my calling. I am going to be a salesperson!”
Why all the disdain from those of us selling professional services? With most services firms we work with, this is what we hear:
I didn't become a lawyer, accountant, consultant, or (fill in the blank) so I could be a salesperson.
My clients won't respect me if I try to sell more to them.
I don't want to sound too “salesy.”
I don't sell professional services; I uncover problems and partner with clients to solve them.
I wasn't trained to sell. I don't know what I'm doing and I am afraid I will look foolish. Everyone will see me fail.
I'd rather just provide my clients with great value and let word of mouth do the rest.
I just don't have it in my genes. I am not one of those used car sales guys.
My parents raised me better than that. (OK, we made this one up.)
So maybe you didn't enter your profession so you could sell all day, but in the words of another great artist, the Eagles, “Get over it.” The world of professional services has changed considerably in recent years. To be successful as professionals, most of us have to do some services selling. Firms can no longer rely on one or two Rainmakers to hunt and then feed the rest of the professionals. Every one of us must become involved in growing the firm.
The good news: selling services is not as loathsome as you think. It can even be exciting. To help you get over your fear, disdain, or avoidance of sales we share these six thoughts about selling professional services.
What makes a good professional makes a good sales person. Think about how you deliver your services to your client. You ask questions. You extend expert opinions. You work hard. You are accessible at all times. You look for creative solutions. You deliver what you say you are going to deliver.
This is exactly what you need to do to become successful in sales. It is not about convincing someone to buy something they do not need. It is about helping them find solutions to needs when they realize they don't have the expertise to do it themselves.
Your prospects and clients actually want you to sell to them. What do clients (and prospects) expect from you? Certainly, not to provide free advice. They expect you to provide the expertise or the resources they do not have. If they are walking into trouble, it is your job to point it out and provide assistance. If you can see a better future for them that they can't see, help them find it. If you sell the same way you provide your services (as in #1 above), they will ask you for more.
You're most successful when you aren't too “salesy.” Think about the rainmakers in your firm. Do you equate them with the used car sales image in your mind? Probably not. They build relationships. They develop trust. They engage conversations to find out what is really going on in their client's world. They work to show their competence and that of the firm. And, they gain commitment – not by asking “What will it take to get us in to do work for you,” but by building creative solutions and creating value for their clients.
Those of you who argue, “Professional services don't need to be sold,” are partially right. It all depends on your mental model of sales. You do have to do many of the things a good salesperson does (plan, persist, hustle, stay in contact) but the tone is different than what many of us think it needs to be. Selling shouldn't be as it's depicted in most movies.
Selling is rewarding. Even though you may not have entered your profession to sell, it can be rewarding from many perspectives. There is a certain amount of thrill and excitement in brining in new customers. There is also the element, in many cases, of bringing in more money. But for many professionals, the reward is finding new people for whom you can provide much needed assistance.
Selling helps you build relationships. Selling services is about building relationships. If you approach it from this mindset, even the sales calls that do not produce direct sales can be considered a win – if you continue to put energy into the relationship. Over time, these so-called losing efforts can produce new referrals, contacts, and, at some point, sales.
Selling is fun. Yes, you too can have fun selling if you look at it as a way to build relationships, solve problems, and help your clients succeed. You may not fall in love with sales, but it doesn't have to be as distressing as most professionals go out of their way to make it.
Remind yourself often that selling isn't a necessary evil. It's a part of being a well-rounded and successful professional service provider. Once you start to feel the business development juices flowing within, you will be well on your way.
If, however, you find yourself reminiscing about the days when you didn't need to sell, and find yourself asking, “I wonder if I'll ever be able to just put my head down and do the work again, and leave the selling to everyone else,” stop yourself and take a break for a minute to consider the sage words of an old salesman.
What was it you wanted?
Tell me again so I'll know.
What's happening in there,
What's going on in your show.
What was it you wanted,
Could you say it again?
I'll be back in a minute
You can get it together by then.
- Willie Nelson (unedited)
During that minute when you're getting it together, forget you asked yourself the question. Instead, get back to your business development to-do list.
What's the worst that can happen? If it does not work, you can always climb back in your truck and get the heck out of Dodge. (Or try again.)
Article Tags: accountant, accountants, avoidance, babies, car sales, cell phone, disdain, due apologies, eagles, genes, john doerr, mike schultz, profession, professional services, rainmakers, salesperson, sentiment, siding, willie nelson, word of mouth
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About the Author: Mike Schultz RSS for Mike's articles - Visit Mike's website Mike Schultz is President of RAIN Group, a sales training, assessment, and sales performance improvement company that helps leading organizations improve sales results. Mike is author of Rainmaking Conversations: Influence, Persuade and Sell in Any Situation (Wiley, 2011) and publisher of RainToday.com. He also writes for the RAIN Selling Blog. He can be reached at mschultz@raingroup.com. Click here to visit Mike's website 10 Rainmakers Principles to Live By IS THERE ANY VALUE IN YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION FIVE TIPS FOR COMMUNICATING THE REAL VALUE OF YOUR SERVICES THE DUMBBELLS CUT BACK THE SMART PEOPLE DONT THE UPSIDE OF RECESSION DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR CLIENTS REALLY NEED COLD TO GOLD GETTING THE MOST FROM COLD CALL SET MEETINGS |
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