You And The Prospect Are On The Same Side

It is imperative in today’s marketplace and dealing with the modern-day buyer, to understand the true nature of your job as a professional sales person.  Your job is to help; to be of assistance, to serve.

However, too many sales people still see the selling situation as a competition between buyer and seller.  It is the outdated “Pitch” mentality. Many sales people approach the sale as a battle, a fight in where someone must win and someone must lose.

To be successful today, you have to adapt to the mindset that there is no competition between you and the buyer. There is no win or lose. You and the prospect are on the same side. Keep the following philosophical concepts in mind when selling, in particularly when asking for the order.

It is not a fight; you are on the same side.
You and the prospect want the same thing: for the prospect to make the best decision. When the prospect objects, it is not a problem just for you. It is an issue for you both.  Approach the objection with the understanding that you need to help the prospect deal with the issue so that you can both get what you both want.  Be careful not to think that you want different outcomes. When you do so, you create an adversarial attitude in your mind that becomes evident to the prospect.

There is only Win-Win or Lose-Lose
There is no win-lose in selling.  Either you both win or you both lose.  When you view the close as a win-lose scenario, it affects how you think.  If you believe that only you lose and the prospect wins if the prospect does not buy, then you can only think in terms of yourself.

As you are closing and persisting, in the back of your mind is self-preservation. You begin to think of your commission and pride and not the loss to the prospect.  This feeling comes through loud and clear and the prospect “feels” that you are pressuring them for your own good and not for their benefit.

Persist with empathy
However, when you believe that if the prospect does not buy, they will suffer even worse than you; then your persisting takes on a different tone.   When the prospect feels that you are persisting because you genuinely believe that it is in their best interest; they understand and appreciate your persistence.

The sales process is not like a fight.  It is more like a dance, where you must gracefully lead your partner across the floor.

If you’re ever looking for some Sales Training then please check out our Sales Training Courses.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Sales Training