Awake to the sale
Advances happen as a matter of course
Asleep to the sale
You are surprised by events.
It is easy to react
Next easiest to respond
The hardest is to initiate
Knowing the next step.
It’s Time
When leads decrease
it’s time to cold call.
When sales stop advancing
it’s time to reconnect.
When demonstrations fall on deafness,
it’s time to sharpen the pitch.
This is called recognizing the reality of sales.
Weak overcomes hard,
Loss generates resolve.
Each day, win or lose, has lessons.
Recognize them.
Wearing Incompetence
Interrupt,
you are deaf to needs.
Lecture,
you act the bully.
Wise crack,
you are considered flippant and dismissive.
Sloppily dressed,
you wear incompetence.
Poor diction, language and grammar
You appear uneducated.
Sellers experience fatigue.
Slipping just one aspect
the deal faces undue risk.
The Master Seller is disciplined
Professional in their art.
Listening Brings Talking
Listening brings talking.
Talking brings listening.
The interaction of the two
creates discovery.
Without discovery both wants and needs are hidden.
Without wants and needs
there are no prospects
nor buyers.
Listening and talking
Talking and Listening
These are the staples of sales.
The Roles of Selling
A cold caller is easy to talk to.
A skilled demonstrator is well rehearsed.
A closer is fair and helpful.
An account rep quick to come to the rescue.
Therefore the Master Seller is willing to help everyone.
They don’t know the meaning of rejection,
they are there to help all stakeholders,
patient with the most reluctant of buyers.
Being teacher for a classroom of unruly students,
They know knowledge is the key to a sale.
Limits of Language
The Tao Te Ching of Sales cannot be fully explained.
To say it’s about listening,
might construe Sellers never ask questions.
To say only buyers decide to purchase
might construe Sellers never close.
In neither case, is this completely true.
Language has limits in it’s ability to describe.
To say a knife is sharp,
omits the back of the blade is dull.
To say Sales is this or that
Is to say you don’t know Sales.
The Master Seller cannot be fully described in words.
They are artists of imagination, talent and skill.
Money Will Follow
The Seller travels all day
demonstrating products and services.
Even though they have much to show
Buyers do not throw money at them.
Why should they be distracted by gold?
Only fools spend money they don’t have.
The Master Seller stays in touch
with the needs of the prospect.
They focus on matching needs to products.
They listen for desires they might fulfill.
Sometimes sales professionals get ahead of themselves. In their excitement to make a sale they forget that sales is a case of matchmaking, providing solutions to buyers problems. Sometimes they get distracted with dreams of how their going to spend their commissions. They instead skip the steps it takes to close a sale. By having an attitude of constantly advancing the sale, the money soon will follow.
Weakness Trumps Strength
Some in sales think strength will win the day,
but strength will break
where weakness remains intact.
An oak tree is stronger than a blade of grass,
Yet storms can uproot it in a moment
while the grass remains.
Better to defer to the prospect,
let them lead with complaints and fears,
by drawing out their secrets
the non-pushy seller uncovers wants and needs.
This is called building trust.
The fast talking huckster foolishly believes they will sway their prospects with brilliant logic and engaging emotion. They are deaf to the buyers allergic response to pushy sales. Some weak prospects cower to such tactics, and may even buy, but will reflect on the transaction forever in disdain. Bullied buyers are not repeat buyers. Defer to the prospects desires, this is the wise path.
Sales Monopoly
Knowing you can’t please everyone,
The Master Seller has a niche where few compete
A monopoly of sorts
Where  with each purchase
the buyer feels richer.
Some markets have competition
Some less.
Better the seller with a monopoly
Where the buyer sees value
And eager to purchase.
How can you make your product or service unique? Â How can you differentiate in a manner the competition cannot overcome? In a market or in a sector can you frame a buying decision such that the prospect knows deeply they will save money when they pay you. Â That is the measure of value. If you can’t express what makes you different, you will struggle to find business. Â
You are different, you are better. Â Aren’t you?Â
One Sale Gives Birth to Two
The Tao Te Ching of Sales gives birth to Sales.
One sale gives birth to Two.
Two sales give birth to Three.
Three give birth to a solid business.
All sales have their foundation built on references
and stand facing the market.
When references and competition compete,
sales overflow the marketplace.
The Tao Te Ching of Sales 