by Mark Arnold
Sales. The mere mention of the word sends some people—including many of your staff—into convulsions. Some of our employees fear sales. Some of them view sales reluctantly. And some of our staff even hate sales.
Why? Because many of our employees don’t have the selling mindset. Sales has a bad rap. We need to remove that negative attitude associated with sales and replace it with the selling mindset.
According to Dan Sullivan, president ofStrategic Coach, Inc., “selling is getting someone engaged in a future that is good for them.” Notice that selling is NOT:
- The employee versus thecustomer/member
- Feature dumping
- Making a product pitch
- Offering someone somethingthey don’t want or need
Ultimately, selling should provide three things:
- Education—Your employees are not salespersons; they areeducators/teachers
- Benefit—Everything your employees offer should have a tangiblebenefit for the consumer
- Value—Your employees need to clearly articulate why someoneshould do business with them
If your employees view sales from the lenses of education, benefit and sales, that changes their mindset. We might need to replace sales training withengagement training.
AsSuccess Magazinesays, “What would the world look like if someone didn't sell or market? Wherewould the jobs be with no selling? Where would the entrepreneurs be? Where would the small businesses be?”
