The Financial Times put out a great article online today about the perfect salesman (it’s a free read for the moment so grab it while you can). Don’t be put off, ladies, by the sexist title which I can only imagine came from the “souk” (had to look that one up) perspective of the writer.
Here were my favorite parts of the article:
“Not Sharks But Teachers”
Yeah they did, and they seduced me too. Apple seduced using “not sharks, but . . . teachers, photographers and filmmakers”.
For years my wife wouldn’t let us have computers, hideous looking computers, on the main floor of our home. That meant any time I wanted to code or surf I was banished to the basement. But when we walked by the Apple store at the Mall of America (this was about 2005) and she saw the nice looking Mac Pros, well that unlocked our frozen conflict (block that metaphor!).
“call everyone…ask friends of friends for referrals”
Great staffing sales people don’t just use one approach. They work every angle. Prospect calls. Referrals. They listen hard and work hard. They like “living on the edge, the idea that they’re going to close the big one. It’s a hero mentality.”
“Keep that hero mentality”
This one is more for the CEO than the sales person or manager but the article is right about keeping a hero mentality out there. “The best salesmen in the world are like five-year-old kids chasing a soccer ball. They’re all running to exactly the same place. They’ll always choose the hot company, so your job is to remain that company.”
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Good Article.
While I have a bit of that shark in me, I love the look on a prospective clients face when they tell me they’re paying a ridiculously low markup and I say, “Wow, that’s a great deal. If you’re 100% happy with the service, you should stay with them.”
Some folks respond to the honest, consultative approach, others will never get it.
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That’s a good line, Steve. My favorite way to frame that – and this works for operational staff as well as staff – is to share that I don’t know the recipe for success but I do know the recipe for failure, and that is to try to please everyone.
Reductio ad absurdum.
Not sure who it was that said that Yoggi, Dale Carnegie, Mark Twain or some mathematician like Blaise Pascal, but it has a way to take the anxiety out of the air really fast.
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