In business, the ‘worlds’ include suppliers, their sales people, their internal divisions, their customers, their customers’ customers and the staff of their customers. The reference to ‘war’ relates to the various ‘worlds’ being at odds with each other, to the point of becoming enemies and doing harm to each other. For example…

As a business pursuit, the selling process has been complicated beyond belief, to the point where many people have been deceived into thinking that all the ‘answers are buried under rocks in the middle of the outback. They are not; in fact the answers to selling success are on full view just about every day, in the form of one person trying to do someone else a favour. For example, when you have seen a film or read a book, and you want people that you know to enjoy the item as much as you did, the process is always simple and honest. The first step is that you tell people about the book or film, without asking permission to do so, and the second step is that you take very little time to tell them how good the film or book is. The third step is that you don’t reveal all that you know about the item you are recommending, after which the fourth step kicks in…when the friend finds out for himself how good the item was that you were talking enthusiastically about. It is worth remembering then that the market will never know how good your offerings are…until they actually use them.

If we examine this approach as it relates to selling products and services, the first issue of course is that you are not engaged in selling to friends and relatives. That said, the principle of ‘doing someone a favour’ still strongly applies, providing that you feel ardently that what you are going to talk about will be of great benefit to those you serve. I am often asked if I feel nervous before making presentations to large conference groups, and the answer is ‘no’. This is because on the one hand I only deliver messages that I am very familiar with, in other words I feel confident of what I am going to say and how I will say it…and just as importantly, I look forward with eagerness to passing on knowledge that I feel people will find to be relevant, different and valuable. This is no different to what a magician goes through when performing his tricks; he knows what steps he will take, he also knows exactly how to lead his audience, he no doubt looks forward to delighting everyone with the ending of the trick, and he injects fun and fantasy into his ‘presentation’.

Genuine enthusiasm, or ardour, is therefore the first and most critical platform in selling, however this should not be confused with ‘hype’…which is always perceived by customers to be a ‘forced’ belief displayed by sales people. By the way, the only thing more contagious than real enthusiasm, is a distinct lack of it! To be driven by fervour involves buying what you sell, to the point where you know beyond a shadow of doubt that your offering will produce a delightful, beneficial result for the customer…that far exceeds his current performance. This takes study: for example, what is the performance of most customers in relation to their use or resale of your product type, and what can be done to seriously improve performance for customers? Before I performed a speaking role, my management role involved hiring speakers for sales and customer conferences, and I was in no doubt as to what most ‘motivational speakers’ delivered…and it wasn’t much, no matter how witty and confident they were on stage. I had also ‘found’ a handful of speakers that were first class, and so when I entered the speaking stakes I knew what more had to be done for audiences of sales people. If you are going to sell any kind of product or service to me, then lead me towards something much better than what I’ve got now, or save your breath.

When you have figured out that your total offering (not your product) is badly needed by people, but not ‘wanted’ (by this I mean they don’t know anything about it), then you will be at the point of ‘wanting to promote it’ to all and sundry. You are selling to intelligent people and so they will know a better result when they see it, and when they do ‘see it’ they will want to buy it more than you want to sell it! Before presenting your ideas to customers and prospects, always make it clear that you are not suggesting change to what they have now – rather you are presenting opportunities to achieve real progress. In summary, It is always much harder to sell successfully…without ardour!