Universal Principles For Selling Professionals
When a deal is in harmony
It advances with ease and grace.
When a deal goes sideways
There is confusion and doubt.
The changing of the guard,
A block on funding
Or stakeholder grudge can create the Great Illusion called fear.
Like a filled cup,
You must empty your thoughts before refilling it.
Allowing for possibility not yet revealed.
People often fail at the verge of success,
Give as much care to the end, as to the beginning.
Like a marathon
The task of building new sales is hard
While the reselling of existing clients
Comes as easy as the winter melt.
Better to build relationships that last,
Making money like the bee
Who does not hurt the flower
But pollinates the whole garden.
If the buyer is difficult,
don’t cast away the opportunity.
Awaken them with your demonstration,
Elevate them with your clarity.
Repay their rudeness with patience.
Don’t lose the opportunity,
Gain their trust.
Not-knowing is true knowledge.
Presuming to know is a fools errand.
First realize that you don’t know
then you can move towards understanding.
Listen,
Open your ears.
Awake to needs of the buyer.
Water is soft to touch
Yet can overcome the hardest of granite
Relaxed and authentic
A cold call can thaw the coldest of gate keepers.
Not pushing, not bullying, not rushing the moment.
A genuine desire to help and befriend
Opens doors to opportunities.
Like water that seeks it’s own level,
people seek comfort.
The master seller knows there is no learning in comfort.
They leave each morning
Seeking challenges
Advancing sales
Knowing the axe is sharpened with the rough stone.
Some buyers can be served, some not
When hunting, most leads end in No
While others wither at rejection
The Master Seller smiles with each No
The more No’s the more Yes’s
Seek the No
to find the Yes
If you want to speed up the sale
you must give the deal time to breath
If you want to dispel objections
you must allow them to flourish
If you want to take new business
you must give time and patience.
This is the path to success.
No progress occurs without goals
Guideposts on the path of discovery.
Each sale a series of steps
A trek to the final purchase.
As weather and obstacles appear
The path is re-charted
Like stars to ancient navigators,
Providing guidance.
The destination has immense value
Yet it pales when compared to goals.
It’s the journey that matters
The rest fleeting.
Patience, Simplicity, Collaboration.
These three are the Master Sellers greatest skills.
Patient in understanding needs and desires
Frame your solution with context,
Simple when delivering your pitch
Return to the language of the buyer,
Collaborative in finding solutions
The sales closes itself.
The Tao Te Ching of Sales 