It’s Not You – It’s Me
It’s always been about me! As I have spent that past year-and-a-half evangelizing about sales careers, I get to share my motto, I didn’t selling anything, I figured shit out. Sometimes, depending on the audience, I would have to clean it and substitute “stuff” for “shit” but everyone got the idea.
I would go on and say that I never convinced anyone that they needed my service to deliver hands-on labs for software training. Instead, I found those who were already in the market and convinced them I was the best option. Not my product. Not my company. ME! Lord William Steele Becker III. OK…I am actually the 1st and I am waiting on the 3rd.
The point to my nonsense is I knew, because I am old(er) and wise, is this…
People don’t buy your products, they buy you.
Sure, part of me was the product and service I was selling, as well as the company behind it. I was the face of the company. I spent the weeks, sometimes months (twice it was YEARS!) with the prospect shepherding them thru the process of deciding if what I was selling was worth the investment.
Then I spent months with them thru the on-boarding process and helping them role out their first training labs. Sure I had help. I devoted a full chapter about how my coworkers were the “secret sauce” to sales success. If you want to get that chapter for free, subscribe to my newsletter.
However, if the prospect/customer needed something, they called Bill. They needed a Security questionnaire filled out…they sent it to Bill. If they needed a W9, Bill got it for them. If something broke (something always breaks in IT) Bill gets the call or email and makes sure it gets fixed. While I am talking about myself in 3rd person, I’d like to point out that Bill was a hell of a salesperson!
What they were buying was peace of mind. Peace of mind that whatever they needed, whenever they needed it was just an email or call away. That’s why I loved working from home (besides the obvious advantage of not having to wear pants). I could and did respond at all hours. I remember watching a college football game on a Saturday night and one of my clients emailed me from the UK. I said, Dude! It’s like 3:00am there…what the hell are you doing?! He was delivering a class in Dubai and had an issue. Bill got the help (along with my fantastical Help Desk!).
I talk about this a lot, because it’s bizarre and important! Every…….single…….week of my career I was praised (I’m sorry, Bill was praised) for how fast I responded. What?!? I got praised for doing my damn job?! I created a separate Outlook folder as sort of a trophy shelf for all the compliments I got. The one client who complained about me and wanted me fired? Our CEO fired them (true story – buy the book to hear the story).
All this to repeat the first part of this post..People don’t buy your products, they buy you. Keep that in mind the next time you are in competition for a deal. Tell the prospect that the difference between you and your competitor is you!
Happy Selling!
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