SOHO Marketing -- Death of a Sales Process

Death of a Sales Process
by Anne M. Bachrach, A.M. Enterprises

What's the difference between a good interview and a bad interview? When Sam Donaldson asks pointed questions that make people squirm, is that a good interview? Or when Barbara Walters makes people feel so comfortable, so trusting that they completely confide in her and express their deep, true emotions, is that a good interview?

You could debate the journalistic merits of Donaldson’s blatantly agenda-driven interrogations and Walters’ subtle persuasion, but my point is this: Who would you want to interview you? The person who knows what he wants you to say and backs you into a corner until you say it, or the person who helps you reveal your “real” self?

Because of his style, Donaldson's interviews feel adversarial and combative, even though he often produces a good story. Meanwhile, Walters gets to work with the créme de la créme and earns slots on prime time with her specials. Salespeople who fire questions like a machine gun and cleverly turn conversations to their advantage get a certain grade of client, while those with a more humane approach work with a higher caliber.

Donaldson’s approach is like the old-school sales techniques. He has pre-determined his outcome and knows exactly what he wants the interviewee to say; therefore, he tries to formulate the perfect question to elicit the answer he’s looking for so he can get the story (“make the sale”). This is just like the salesperson who asks "disturbing" questions about paying too much tax, outliving your money in retirement, losing buying power to inflation, becoming disabled, or dying prematurely. The purpose is to create discomfort so you can manipulate people's behavior. Walters, on the other hand, is more like the Trusted Advisor. She formulates her questions with one prime objective: to draw out her subjects and hear their story. She usually gets a great interview because she creates a positive emotional connection, builds trust, and people reveal themselves because they want to.

For a Trusted Advisor, the Donaldson approach is out. The purpose of an interview is to establish trust and connection and determine if there is a fit — not to do whatever it takes to make the sale. When there is no fit Trusted Advisors disengage, even if they could make a sale.

One Trusted Advisor, David Bach with Dean Witter, recently told me that he had a client in his office with a $1.2 million rollover from Exxon. “It was so funny,” he said. “I knew there wasn’t a match, but I knew exactly what to say to get the sale. I really had to be conscious to make sure I didn’t say it.” A salesperson would never have let the commission on $1.2 million walk out the door.

That is so contrary to how most salespeople live their lives. How many times have we "interviewed" prospects, all the while trying to figure out what we have to say make the sale? Figuring that out was the Holy Grail of selling.

Instead of constantly thinking about what you should say to make the sale, be a Trusted Advisor and focus on the kind of person and professional you are. Jim Rohn has said that success is not something you pursue but something you attract by the person you become.

Isn’t this the great paradox of sales? Your job is to attract people to buy what you are selling, but the mere fact that you are selling repels people. All your methods are responses to the reality that who you are causes people to avoid you. When you tell people you’re a salesperson, you are almost always pigeonholed and subsequently put off as someone who wants to sell something; therefore, you have to “handle objections” and be a good "closer." The whole terminology of selling — “I have to close the deal,” “I have to handle objections,” — is the result of salespeople having to chase potential customers who would rather avoid them.

It’s a vicious cycle for salespeople: They’re repellent; therefore, they have to manipulate; therefore, they’re repellent; therefore, they have to manipulate. The result is that nobody wants to be around them. Even their friends cringe when the subject of their profession comes up.

Remember the depressing play, “Death of a Salesman?” I think Arthur Miller had it all wrong: He should have killed off the sales career instead of the salesman. What if the aging Mr. Loman had been recruited to an organization where he was trained in the ways of the Trusted Advisor? Pardon me for messing with a classic, but perhaps he could have become a valued resource for clients and his company instead of an aging hack put out to pasture. A happy ending or, depending on how you look at it, beginning.

When you show up in the world as a salesperson people avoid you. When you show up in the world as a Trusted Advisor, people seek you out. Remember, salespeople pursue; Trusted Advisors attract. Don’t be a salesperson, be a Trusted Advisor.

Anne M. Bachrach is President of A.M. Enterprises in San Diego, CA. Anne has 16 years of experience training and coaching. Her main focus is training entrepreneurs and salespeople how to build high-trust relationships, on purpose (Values-Based Selling™). The objective is to do more business in less time through maximizing people’s true potential, and ultimately leading them to an even better quality of life. For more information on our services and learning tools, call Anne at 858-554-0136, fax 858-554-0545, or e-mail anne@bachrachvbs.com.

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