Universal Principles For Selling Professionals
Can you stop your mind from wandering
And focus on what the prospect speaks?
Can you keep your eyes wide
And awake to the buyers frustrations?
Can you appreciate their needs
Without imposing your will?
And can you close a deal
Without clever tricks and word play?
Selling without selling
Closing without closing
Allowing the sale to advance at its own course,
This the supreme virtue.
Last night I was at the clothing store, shopping for clothes for my upcoming vacation. There was a wide selection of garments and I took a number of them into the changing room. One by one I tried each one of them on, deciding whether or not they would meet my needs. Some of the garments I kept for purchase, while the rest were placed back on the racks.
This is the same thing our prospects do when buying. They survey the products, both yours and the competition, to see if it meets their requirements. And oftentimes that means not just them, but the needs of a large number of people, with multiple roles across a large organization. Disorganized and grasping on their true needs, these prospects demand a large amount of patience and coaching. The Master Seller walk them through the process step by step. They are wise to the process, yet collaborative with a deft touch.
Sometimes you can help these folks, sometimes you can’t. They may not be ready, or they’re just tire kickers. The Master Seller is awake to reality and knows that this is the way the world works. They don’t burn bridges, they know it takes a compelling event to drive a purchase, and this moment, right now, may not be that time.
With Deliberate and measured growth
The sapling reaches great heights.
Knowing it’s not an absence of action,
The Master Seller sees Patience as power,
They wait for the right time to act.
With steady follow-up
they advance the sale,
Guiding the close with a steady hand.
When first learning sales
every day something is added.
In the practice of Master Selling
every day something is dropped.
Less and less do you need to force things,
until finally you arrive at the no close, close.
True mastery can be gained by listening,
and letting things go their own way.
When the Master sells, prospects are hardly aware of it,
To them it’s just a conversation about their lives.
Next best is a seller who is loved.
Next, one who is feared as sleazy.
The worst is one who is considered a huckster.
If you don’t trust the customer, you make them untrustworthy.
The Master Seller doesn’t talk, he acts.
When the sale is closed the people say, “We chose wisely”
The Tao Te Ching of Sales 