Persuasion Lab sales podcast:
the good, the bad, and the ugly of sales with kevin hayler
What makes you buy from a particular company or brand?
What is it that they do really well, when perhaps others don’t?
What makes you buy from a particular company or brand?
What is it that they do really well, when perhaps others don’t?
Persuasion Lab sales podcast host, Mooed Amin chatted to our founder and director Kevin Hayler recently for his podcast and they discussed all things sales covering the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Why sales should be a force for good.
Mooed anticipated at the start that this episode could be quite an uncomfortable listen for many viewers, but they needed to hear it from the perspectives of both buyers and sellers. Sales is used every single day, in one way or another by every single company out there, so why is it often devalued or dismissed?
Help and guide people first, sell second
Help and guide people first, sell second
It was discussed that people naturally buy from people, but people see straight through people quickly too.
Kevin said: “People hate being sold to. If someone helps or guides me, or even at times challenges me, it makes it easy for me as the consumer to buy from them. We need to shift this attitude and culture and stop pushy and pressurised sales.”
When asked about the state of sales as a profession Kevin replied:
“it frustrates me, really frustrates me. Sales is getting harder and harder, consumer behaviours have shifted enormously over two years, with more buying happening online, and expectations are much much higher. Yet, when consumers want or need advice, there are a lot of salespeople who still live in the dark ages and sell the old way, putting the pressure on, and not giving good guidance.”
So, why does it still happen?
So, why does it still happen?
It’s almost always down to targets and pressure from inexperienced managers and/or time-poor leaders. There are always targets, and naturally a pressure to sell, but a positive learning culture comes from the leader.
Managers needs to believe in the mentality of helping/guiding first, selling second. Salespeople need to find the strength and be confident by knowing their numbers, staying true to themselves, and not bowing to the pressure to start pushing the sale. That’s easier said than done.
To build a pipeline, you need to work hard, build relationships, build trust, and stay true to your mantra of helping people, not selling. Salespeople may need to be coached, trained and managed well to do this well. The successful salesperson does the activity, has a pipeline of business, and knows where the results are coming from.
how can businesses of all sizes improve their selling?
If your teams are hitting their targets for calls and approaches, but aren’t converting, simply telling them to work harder won’t work. You need to nurture them and guide them by having an awareness of the full picture as the starting point.
Seek external help to come in and review your set-up, put coaching and training in place – for both new salespeople and established, you can never be too experienced!
Not going through the motions and with tick boxes, but with honest emotion and authenticity.
Cast your own memory back to a good example of being helped by a salesperson, how did it feel? I bet it was a good experience, wasn’t it? Now, as an example of pressure tactics, think back to when you’ve been out shopping, and you get ambushed by the shop assistant one step inside a retail store. “Can I help you” they ask as they move into your personal space. What’s your answer? “No thanks, I’m just browsing” as you walk away…even if you did want some help.
What does great sales look like?
What does great sales look like?
Sales done properly is a skilful and excellent career choice. It’s about people getting on with people and pairing your expertise with empathy to answer and help that customer solve a problem.
No one wants to feel frustrated by missing targets or frustrated with a sales team that’s not performing but it’s so important not to overreact and push for results. Build relationships and trust with people, guide them, and solve their problems. There is no short cut to this process.
Thanks for listening and reading.
The episode is now available to listen to by clicking on any of the links below
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