What is selling

What is selling?

I have heard many answers to this question over the years and some of them not too complimentary. Some people not in sales and even some who are, have an idea that the art of selling is a less than honourable trade. They have the feeling that the best salespeople are close to con-men who would do anything and say anything just to make the sale. They meet a sales person and are on their guard watching for the trick that will make them buy something they don’t need or can’t afford.

This is not sales. Unfortunately there are a few con-men who give the trade a bad name but most of them do not last long, having to move from product to product or industry to industry to keep one step ahead of their reputation.

Sales is not conning people, it’s helping people. The best definition I have come across is as follows:

“Sales is helping the customer to buy”

Helping him to make up his mind based upon the satisfaction of his needs. Sales is always going for “Win - Win” or “No Deal”. That means that it is the salespersons responsibility to ensure that both he and the customer wins on the deal.

If the salesperson finds that he is about to conclude a deal where he is winning but the customer is losing, the deal should be scrapped.

I have said this many times at seminars throughout the country and I always get a few dissenters. “Surely”, they say “It’s the responsibility of the customer to make sure he is getting a good deal, not the salesperson?”

“Not so” I reply “What happens to your customer if you win but he loses?”
“Well, you make the sale.” say one or two of the less bright seminar attendees.

“True” I say “But when he gets home and discovers that he has lost on the deal, where does he go when he wants to buy another one of your products?”

“To the competitors?”

“Right! ... And so does his 10 friends and their 5 friends and their 3 friends etc.. You may make the sale but you should lose your job for the amount of money and good will you have lost your company”

“Okay” say the die-hards “But what if the customer wants to buy even though you know he will lose on the deal?”

Consider the following true story:

Some years ago I needed to buy a washing machine because the one we had was no longer worth repairing so I looked in the local paper and discovered that one of the large stores in the area was having a sale on a washing machine that was being advertised on television and seemed to fit the bill. So off I went to the store, money in hand, to make the purchase. As soon as I entered the area where the washing machines were displayed a salesman approached me and I told him I wanted to buy this machine.

Instead of filling out the order form and taking my money he asked me what I wanted the machine for. I was tempted to tell him I wanted it to vacuum the carpet in the lounge, but instead I asked him what he meant. “No”, he said “How many times a week do you run your machine?”

So I told him I have 5 Children and the machine is run at least 3 times a day 6 days a week.

“Oh, you don’t want this machine.” he said “What you want is the XYZ Washing Machine. It will last much longer and takes a bigger load cutting your washing time down.”

“Great.” I said “So sell me one.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, we haven't got any in stock but I can order one for you. It will just take a couple of weeks.”

“But I can’t wait that long. I’ll have to make do with this machine.” I told him. “When you have five children, two weeks without a washing machine is a life sentence.”

“I can understand that.” he said “The machine you asked for will do the job but it’s not the best machine for you. ..... I know the shop down the road have some of the better machine in stock at the same price why don’t you buy one from them?”

Now the “Shop down the road” was a competitor so I was surprise that the salesman was prepared to miss out on the sale all together and I told him so but he seemed pleased that I was going away happy.

I did buy the washing machine from the competitor company and he was right, it works very well so I was pleased with the purchase.

As luck would have it a week later the kettle broke down and as it seemed to be the last of that make and model in existence there was no possibility of getting parts. Where do you think I want to buy a new one?

That’s right....... back to the salesman in the big store where I knew I would get good advice even at the risk of losing the sale. And then a year later, when I needed a new fridge? And two years after that when my eldest son was setting himself up in his new flat? You guessed it! Back to the same salesman in the same department store, and if he leaves and moves on to another shop I will move with him. Now that is selling.

Selling is not so much shifting product as making customers. The great salespeople know that a customer will come back for life if you make him happy and that has to be your target.


What is selling - To learn more about this author, visit Richard Mulvey's Website.

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