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.
Qualifying
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.
Thawing the Gatekeeper
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.
Pitfalls of Comfort
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.
Seeking No
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
An eBook for the Master Seller
When I first learned to ride a bicycle, I fell down a lot. The same thing happened when I started sales. I recall when I got my first three orders: get out, stay out and don’t come back. I was so proud. To stop falling down I reflected on the Taoist notions of balance and applied them to the world of business. As I’ve matured I’ve found sales to be a constant balancing act.
I started this blog to share a bit about the yin and yang of the business deal, on how to control the sale, by not controlling it. I’ve collected some of these thoughts in a eBook that I share freely. Take a moment each day to read one page, and look for ways to apply.
A new year is upon us and I’ve taken up the challenge to post weekly to this blog. Please use this forum to generate conversations on the mastery of selling. I urge you to comment and share on these posts, both positive and especially negative. I’m not afraid of falling down. For the Master Seller listens before talking, sells without effort, shares without preaching, demonstrates without closing.
Never assuming the sale, the Master never loses one.
Happy New Year!
WordPress Weekly Challenge
Benjamin Franklin once said “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing“. I’ve decided to accept the WordPress Weekly Challenge, agreeing to blog weekly in 2013, maybe more often. WordPress is the content management system this blog uses to publish the Tao Te Ching of Sales. With this challenge both you the reader, and I the writer, will take Franklin’s advice. I’m excited to bring this blog into the new year and share my thoughts on becoming a Master Seller. Thank you reader, in advance.
Path to Success
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.
The Tao Te Ching of Sales 