|
|
Like this article? PLEASE +1 it! |  |
|
Nothing Happens until someone Sells something!
Written by: Trent LeyshanArticle Overview: What does it really mean to sell something? An idea, a dream, our values, an opinion, or ones self interests? Selling is simply: a transfer of enthusiasm and trust in someone or something. With this trust is born a responsibility and commitment to honor that trust, and do so willingly, no matter how challenging.
 |
Free Download - Find fear before it finds you By Trent Leyshan |
Nothing Happens until someone Sells something!
What does it really mean to sell something? An idea, a dream, our values, an opinion, or ones self interests? Selling is simply: a transfer of enthusiasm and trust in someone or something. With this trust is born a responsibility and commitment to honor that trust, and do so willingly, no matter how challenging.
Sales is not a dirty word as some would have you believe. The act of selling is a powerful one, particularly when in the hands of honorable and good intentioned people. In fact, sales or the act of selling is the oldest profession still in existence today. I’m not referring solely to the process of selling products or services in a business. I’m talking about selling yourself – your ideas, opinions, values, desires or objections. There is little you can obtain in this world without the skills of selling or influencing another first.
Sure you can be successful without overtly selling, but if you look a little closer into every situation, there is always a seller and a buyer. From a sweaty palmed suitor, bending down on one knee to ask his unsuspecting girlfriend to take his hand in matrimony, to the high powered CEO trying to sway the board to agree to a multi million dollar restructure. The undercurrent is always selling, or what I call, influencing. Whether in your face or not, selling remains a universal law and truth that gets thing done. Nothing happens until someone sells something!
As babies we’ve already learned how to sell before speaking and walking. We learn very quickly how to influence the attention and behaviours of our parents with the right facial expressions and the appropriate scream or cry. Very early on in our life journey these are the methods we use to sell, influence, and make others do what we want them to do. Think about it for a minute... those of us that have kids know full well how damn persuasive and influential our young children can be when they want something. They instinctively possess all the skills: persistence, determination, innovation, incessant questioning and challenging the boundaries, until they get what they want.
In fact, our survival both individually and collectively as a race, hinges on our abilities to influence and persuade others to get what we want. The selling instinct is coded into our DNA. It’s debatable, but this innate ability alone is a key contributor to the human race being so remarkable and inimitable.
The early pioneers sold themselves to overcome insurmountable odds. How they could sail unchartered seas, scale seemingly un-climbable mountains or befriend or overpower foreign races. Someone had to first sell themselves on a possibility and then sell and influence others to manifest the possibility into reality.
The selling instinct serves in no uncertain terms. Where and how selling doesn’t serve is when unscrupulous individuals or groups use this power and influence for self gain alone, at the expense of others. This type of selling does little but preserve selling’s old school stigma, born from sleazy insurance and self focus second hand car salesman.
Here is what’s most important to understand: We all sell in some form every day in so many ways. To not understand this universal law renders a person incapable of truly understanding themselves or having the capacity to truly understand and influence others. Dale Carnegie wrote a famous book ‘How to win friends and influence people.” This book is a timeless reference and its contents demonstrate the immense power in speaking and doing ill of no person. This way of being is powerful and emphasises the propensity of human character to judge things, people or circumstances we don’t necessarily fully understand.
This brings us to the concept of empathy. To truly understand something you must first take an avid interest in it. Selling is no different. Whether in a business or social setting, taking a genuine interest in someone and genuinely attempting to understand them is called showing Empathy. Empathy is without question a critical level of understanding that gives us the capacity to understand another persons feelings and the emotions connected to those feelings. Without empathy we are incapable of truly connecting with others and developing meaningful relationships with them.
So given all of this, how can we sell consciously, in a positive manner, that results in genuine meaning to the customer - to produce a win-win outcome? The answer is selling with empathy, or better: Empathy Selling.
Empathy Selling™ is process that enables a sales person to genuinely connect with and understand their customers. Hidden under every stated need is an underlying or implicit motivator - driven by emotions. If you can tap into the emotions of your customers you will uncover; who they really are, what they stand for, where they are going in life, and importantly, what’s most important to them. With this knowledge the sales person is empowered to best address their hidden needs and also provide solutions to the problems the customer may or may not be conscious of. Empathy Selling™ cuts through obvious symptoms and gets straight to the heart of less overt root causes.
Research has shown that sales people who demonstrate empathy with their customers can be up to 50% more effective than those that demonstrate no empathy/skill or ability to genuinely connect with their customers. This may sound exaggerated, but true, such is the power of empathy and empowering your sales people to better understand your customers.
Create High Impact Copy
Using Web 2.0 to Customize Your Sales Process
Ten Viral Marketing Best Practices
Why Is Affiliate Marketing A Legitimate Online Home Business Opportunity
Money Making Strategy: Make It Better!
Article Tags: babies, behaviours, ceo, desires, dirty word, existence, facial expressions, girlfriend, ideas opinions, law and truth, life journey, matrimony, objections, oldest profession, persistence, scream, self interests, suitor, undercurrent, universal law
|
About the Author: Trent Leyshan RSS for Trent's articles - Visit Trent's website  Trent Leyshan is founder, CEO of BOOM! A leading international sales training company that specialises in the development of inspirational sales cultures, leaders and salespeople. Early in his career Trent was head tradeshow spruiker and sales manager for Australia's most flamboyant TV salesman, Big Kev. He has since driven two of his own companies from lounge room operations into market leaders. And led sales teams in leading new media and advertising agencies. Trent is a sought after expert and facilitator on sales performance and strategy. He is the Author of sales book, The Naked Salesman: How to walk the talk and sell your way to success! BOOM! develops sales training strategies and delivers inspiring learning experiences for some of the world's most successful and demanding sales driven organisations. Empowering them with modern skills and tools to effectively engage with customers and build stronger and more valuable relationships.
Click here to visit Trent's website   Marketing is complex Sales is much easier Im concerned about my sales dropping over the Christmas break Got any tips Find your Focus HOW TO BE A TRUSTED ADVISOR Are you selling with inspiration or desperation |
Related Forum Posts
Need a book recommendation for writing better
- I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing skills, so I was just wondering if anyone could recommend a good copywriting or copyediting book?
I was actually thinking of reading "The Copywriter's Handbook : A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Copy That Sells" by Robert W Bly [u:w3cg00nn]OR[/u:w3cg00nn] "The Copyeditor's Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications" by Amy Einsohn. Would anyone know if these books are any good?
Thanks
Top 19 Copywriting books
- 1. Ogilvy on Advertising. David Ogilvy. Wiley.
2. Positioning: The Battle for your Mind. Al Ries and Jack Trout. Warner.
3. The New Positioning. Jack Trout. McGraw-Hill.
4. Tested Advertising Methods. John Caples. Prentice-Hall.
5. How to Make your Advertising Make Money. John Caples. Prentice-Hall.
6. Guerrilla Advertising. Jay Conrad Levinson. Houghton Mifflin.
7. Direct Mail Copy that Sells. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall.
8. Sales Letters that Sizzle. Herschell Gordon Lewis. NTC Business Books.
9. Herschell Gordon Lewis on the Art of Writing Copy. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall.
10. Romancing the Brand. David Martin. American Management Association.
11. The Art of Writing Advertising: Conversations with William Bernbach, Leo Burnett, George Gribbin, David Ogilvy, Rosser Reeves. NTC Business Books.
12. Confessions of an Advertising Man. David Ogilvy. NTC Business Books.
13. My Life in Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books.
14. Scientific Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books.
15. How to Become an Advertising Man. James Webb Young. NTC Business Books.
16. The Lasker Story as He Told It. NTC Business Books.
17. Advertising Concept and Copy. George Felton. Prentice Hall.
18. The Copy WorkShop Workbook. Bruce Bendinger. The Copy Workshop.
19. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads. Luke Sullivan. Wiley.
This should keep you busy for at least a year.
Enjoy!
Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.
Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.
by: 
Simon Fuller Quotes
Lesson #3: “Tell ‘em quick and tell ‘em often”
Searching for the Stars: How Yang and Filo Took Their Business to New Heights
Salesperson Wimp-Out: I Need Help 
February 2012 Top 100 Leadership Experts to Follow on Twitter
Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!
International Employment Background Checks
How to Sell to the Price Driven Customer
Working Across Borders
Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.