Universal Principles For Selling Professionals
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.
Enter sales calls with no expectations
Listen instead for the three things:
Satisfaction,Complacency or Fear
Satisfied, they are no longer a prospect
Fearful they are qualified opportunities,
Complacent they require patience.
The Master Seller shines a flashlight on complaints
She is good to prospects that treat her well.
She also good to prospects that don’t treat her well.
Humble she has faith in her solutions
She is optimistic like a child.
Yesterday one subscriber mentioned that my reading list consisted only of sales books yet the focus of this blog was sales in the context of the Tao Te Ching. Sheepishly I agreed that I had indeed skipped the inspiration of this blog, Lao Tze. I have since added three books that have deeply influenced by thinking of life and subsequently sales. The Master Seller cannot be successful unless their personal life is in order. The life of the personal and life of the professional are inter-weaved in a manner that makes them inextricable. As such I recommend these two translations and book for those interested in further understanding the Tao Te Ching of Sales:
Again I hope you find value in these selections. They have deeply enriched my life. Click here for access to the reading list.
If you would like to discuss these books or have any questions, please don’t hesitate or contact me anytime by clicking the “contact” tab.
Best wishes,
Pat
Skill Desire Value
Three legs on the stool of success
Without one leg
There is no Balance.
Skill
What we do well
Desire
What we want to do
Value
when others appreciate your skills.
While mastering others is strength
Knowing the intersection of your self’s
skill, desire, and value is true power.
S
peak to the end
Beginning is an assumption.
Without a destination in mind
The journey is hard to fathom.
With map and compass
A path can be plotted,
But only if you know where you’re going.
Far too often we are thrilled to start projects with only a vague sense of how it is to be completed. Without an end goal in mind, intermediate steps cannot be formulated and soon the project becomes one in a number of “good business ideas” placed on the rubbish heap. Visualize the end, articulate it, share it with others and enroll them on your quest. The end is a very powerful tool for the Master Seller. Use it wisely.
Sellers have strengths.
Sellers have weaknesses.
This is true of both you and the competition.
If you understand who you are,
And know your competition too,
You needn’t fear losing deals.
If you know yourself, but not the competition,
You will win some deals, lose others.
Yet if you know neither yourself, nor the competition,
You will fail in the marketplace.
To understand
We label buyers by what we see
But the names have limits
Only the effects of something subtle.
When you see beyond the label
You can sense the true nature of the buyer,
Better share the benefits of your solution.
Look beyond the obvious
Awake to the true nature
Speak to it.
Not assuming a prospect’s desires is strength.
Knowing what’s good for them is weak.
Taking for granted and presuming instills weakness
Awake, the Master Seller knows the cure
Finding solutions that match needs
Conscious that prospects are unique as snowflakes
with their own struggles and frustrations.
Unconscious
I drift through life
Unsure of where I am
Where to go.
Conscious
I think of each choice
Considering different paths
Choose with open eyes.
The total cost of ownership
Weighs both pros and cons
Considers trade offs
Potential futures.
No longer asleep
The automated machine
Is turned off
Replaced with wakeful decision-making.
Asleep
I am dumb to the world
Decisions of ignorance are folly.
Awake
I am informed and observant
Decisions are wise and thoughtful.
Better the sage than the fool
With an ear to reality
A listening for knowledge.
The Tao Te Ching of Sales 