Advertisement Ideas: Forget The Salesman Approach!!!

              

When discussing sales people I often hear they are pushy, full of themselves, and will say anything to make the sale. This perception has led to many people programming themselves to say I am not interested from the first interaction. Sales is an integral part of  any business be it a sole proprietorship or a large corporation  a brick and mortar business or a home based business and mastering sales is a key to success. I have found that over the years it is important to overcome the perception of being a salesman because of the misconceived notion that sales people are sleazy and out for themselves. The best way to avoid being perceived in a negative way is to forget the salesman approach and become more interested in the people you are interacting with.

 The first thing you are instructed to do in sales is to make cold calls. I believe this is the wrong approach as you can see from the chart that most people are not receptive to cold calls. Cold calls can be a part of the process, however there is an art to the cold call. In my 20 plus years of experience in the for profit and non-profit sectors I have found that when cold calling it is best to simply do your research and find out who the decision maker is, this can be easily done by google searches or using sources like The Hoover’s Guide To American Businesses.  Many times know who to ask for will get you past the gate-keeper. I also suggest you get the gate keepers name and make friends with him or her so next time you call they will put you through.  After you get to the decision maker do not begin your pitch right away tell them that you chose to contact them as you are looking to assist businesses like theirs and would like to set up an appointment to show them what you are offering. The appointment can be done via phone or in person if they are local. The key is to begin a relationship as we all know people will do business with those they know, like, and trust. Continue reading Advertisement Ideas: Forget The Salesman Approach!!!