Honest Sales
I am no stranger sales training. For the better part of twelve years I was exposed to numerous different styles and tactics of how to sell. As business changes, new ideas come up, new ways to do things are developed, and sales training is just one of those categories that is always evolving.
Role Playing
Have you ever role-played a sales pitch?
My favorite part of sales training is when you have to roll play with a partner. Honestly, I'm not sure if this is my favorite part about sales training or just my favorite part about any training or interactive process. Maybe I should have been an actor. I enjoy taking on a character, being given a scenario, and living it out. I used the word living because a good actor really takes on the roll of the character. I believe you would call that method acting. That's what Daniel Day-Lewis does.
If You believe so strongly in something that you live it, it's just natural. You're not really acting any more and you're certainly not training. I would say you have a passion for it. A good sales trainer has a passion for selling and helping other people do the same.
Unrealistic
Alas, there are things that I don't like about sales training. At the risk of contradicting myself, I’ll say that some of the scenarios that would come up were unrealistic and many of my role playing partners over the years were just not effective. For example, there was the role playing partner that was just a little bit too easy. If they were the customer that I was trying to sell to they would buy anything. I could sell them a broken vacuum cleaner by telling them it could act as an auxiliary garbage can. They would respond “yes” to all my qualifying questions and would be easily lead directly into buying signals.
The question is, why did my partners act that way? Why did they make it so easy for me? I think there is a couple of different reasons:
They probably didn’t like conflict and were nice people.
It's just not a great environment to create a realistic scenario. There were times I was certainly living the salesman role but my role playing partner just wasn't living the customer role. They weren't actually skeptical of me and what I was selling. Truthfully, they were just bad actors. I don't think any of them had mal-intent or wanted to stunt my growth as a salesman.
The Impossible Customer
The second type of unsatisfactory sales role-playing partner was the one who turned it into a competition. There's no scoring system for this competition but there are plenty of style points. Not really sure who the judges are considering you usually act out these scenarios somewhat quietly and on your own while the rest of the people in the class are doing the same. Either way, the overly competitive counterpart’s main goal is to make sure that you fail miserably trying to sell them that broken vacuum. In fact, they will find a way to make the ultimate Dyson blade 7000 horsepower air sucking machine that can cook you breakfast into the worst item known to man. They know all the tactics and concepts that you studied in the class. They know the questions you're supposed to ask and the pauses that you're supposed to make and they'll do anything in their power to trip you up.
Come on man! It's not realistic that you would even take a meeting with a vacuum salesman If you just purchased iRobot the company.
Passion
I learned plenty of things from various sales trainers. But the one thing that sticks out is that they all stressed that you have to have passion. You have to show that you believe strongly in what you're selling. I've heard it put numerous different ways and expressed passively, actively, and everywhere in between. There's always some sort of passion for the item or service that you're offering.
You could say that a good salesman could sell just about anything. I believe that deeply. The problem is that there's no one on this earth that has an extreme amount of passion for everything. This tells me that those amazing salesmen that could sell anything would have to act as if they had passion or many of those things that they tried to sell. This is not ultimately a criticism of good sales people. It's simply means that they are able to portray and enthusiasm that may not exist. It's not to say that they're manipulative but rather to compliment their personality and fascinating ability to communicate.
The Healthy Salesperson
I believe that the difference between selling something that you are truly passionate about and something that you are not points to the polarizing well-being of many sales people that I know. The sales people that truly love what they sell and are living in a healthy state seem to be much better off than their counterparts that are stuck exuding in sincere passion.
The impactmaker movement is certainly about passion. But, it's also about honesty. The first step to identify your impact project is honest reflection. You have to ask yourself what is it that you truly care about? What is so important to you that you could handle any extreme role-playing partner or true naysayer to your cause?
See E-Impact 51 about the “Zone of Desire”.
Sales training for the impact maker just looks a bit different than all those experiences that I had over that 12-year period. You are not employed by a company to sell their products or services (This remains a noble position.). You are called to make a positive impact in the world.
The Impactmaker Mindset
In that 12 years of sales training. I also had many opportunities to work with nonprofit organizations. It is in observing that work that I developed part of my impactmaker mindset; a mindset that is not solely based on sacrificing one's time, income, or savings for other people. It's also based on developing efficient systems and processes to support not only a specific cause but also all of the people around us who share the same passion for that cause. I noticed that there were some very caring nice people who had a job but not of passion for the concentration that their employer had in my work with these nonprofit organizations. I don't believe that any of them thought that their employer had an unworthy cause. They just weren't filled with passion for it.
If you don't have honest passion for a cause you should not take up an impact project related to it. It's not fair to yourself and anyone else to whom you may try to sell the cause.
A Career
Your impact project could turn into employment. In fact I found that many great nonprofit organizations started with a single person's impact project. They eventually became the first Executive Director of that organization. However, that role and title were not the reason why they started doing the work. They had an honest passion for that cause.
If you develop a dream or a goal that is related to anything other than making a positive impact in a specific area during your honest reflection, it should be filed in a different mental folder. It might be a great thing. It could be a great business idea. It could be a great personal achievement. These are very worthy things. In fact, I think they're very important things and should be part of your life.
I have said before that impactmakers are high achievers. We have a desire to do great things. We want to have awesome businesses, make money, travel the world, meet new people, learn new things, and experience the amazing life that we've been blessed with. I encourage you to chase those things with all your heart. With that being said, they're not your imperfect project. The worst thing you can do is to try to make them something they are hot.
Do not use your passion to sell what should not be sold. I warn you because you WILL be successful. You’re driven and passionate. Those are the key characteristics that every great sales trainer I know has.
Honesty Policy
It's best to make sure your ”sales” is honest sales. The great news is that it shouldn't be that hard. All you have to do is make sure you've identified the right cause from the beginning. Once you've figured it out, you chase it with all your heart without worry.
There is but one caveat. You may have multiple causes in your life time. Impactmaking is a lifestyle, not a single choice. I wish I could tell you it's that simple. But, once you've solved an issue or run your course as the champion, it's time to move on. Put your passion to continued good use.
The Steps
Here's an example flow for an honest selling impactmaker.
1. Honest Reflection - See E-Impact 50 for some assistance in “Visioning”.
2. Document list of passions
3. Link passions to causes
4. Identify one cause to work on
5. Solve issue/complete your part
6. Consult list from #2
7. Choose next cause or restart process
The Best of the Best
Dedication and consistency are necessary to be the best at anything. Some things such as athletics or music also require natural talent. This is not to say that you can't progress in those type of things. It just means you'll likely not win the NBA MVP or a Grammy.
The great thing about making a positive difference in the world is that being the best doesn't require natural talent-and even then, you don't have to be the ”best”. You just have to ”do”. We've said many times,
”You may not change the world, but you can change the world for one.”
Never forget that. This applies to all the positivity you exude whether it's your smallest act of kindness or a world renown non-profit. It all matters! Deeply…to somebody. Actually, it matters to at least two people and the first is you. I’m here to tell you that that’s the only reason you need to be the greatest salesperson in the world.
Live for positive impact. Focus your efforts.
Sell like crazy.