Sell Your Intangible Value

What’s the value of working with a knowledgeable, credible, and trustworthy salesperson as opposed to someone whose methods are somewhat questionable? The difference can be huge to customers even if the products being offered are virtually identical. In sales, the customer’s perception of your value is equal to the benefits of your product or service plus the intangible values you bring to the table.

From my perspective, it’s no longer enough to be friendly and polite. There are plenty of salespeople in the world who are nice. The idea behind this concept of selling yourself is to accrue enough value to tip the scales in your favor whether you are up against a competitive proposal, or you are competing against the decision to do nothing. We also want to accumulate enough value to overcome any questions or concerns that may come up when dealing with objections.

Whether a salesperson is born with character traits like credibility, integrity, knowledge, helpfulness, candor, or respect, is debatable. The key is being able to convey your intangible values throughout the sales process, so sellers who think strategically can be perceived as more valuable resources than the competition. That’s where the application of specific techniques becomes very important. As I have said many times, even if you are the most valuable salesperson in your industry, you still must say and do things that cause you to be perceived as such.

Interviewing Advice for Candidates

One piece of advice I would offer with regard to the notion of selling yourself is to be prepared to discuss how you plan to succeed. Success rarely happens by accident, and if you were interviewing for a position within my company, the first thing I would want to know is, “Do you have a plan for being successful in this job?”

Successful people plan their work and they work their plans. They have a vision for what is required to be successful and the ability to communicate that vision to others. Even our best laid plans don’t always pan out as we had originally envisioned them, however, so the ability to make reasonable and intelligent adjustments along the way is critically important. Shooting from the hip is no longer a viable strategy in today’s business environment.

Potential employers are just like prospective customers in the sense that they want to know that you are confident in your abilities, and you have the foresight and fortitude necessary to make things happen in ways that will benefit them and you.

Even with a notable track record, we must recognize that in a competitive environment, you will rarely be the only candidate (or vendor) being considered. Other qualified candidates will also garner a serious look. Hence, the purpose of an employment interview is not just to review one’s honors and accolades from the past. The real purpose of these evaluations (job interviews or sales calls) is to give prospective customers a glimpse into the future so they can evaluate which alternative will provide the best fit in helping them achieve their goals.

In the final analysis, you must make the difference. To the extent you are able to communicate value and demonstrate that your skills are indeed aligned with the customer’s goals, you can expect a great deal of success going forward. On the other hand, if you sound just like everyone else, then you put your destiny in the hands of a coin flip at best. It’s that simple. Selling yourself during an interview or with regard to a product sale has everything to do with the customer’s perception of you.

Singing the 401K Blues

Life is funny. Last Saturday night, I went to a comedy club here in Atlanta and literally laughed until I cried. Then, on Sunday, when I finally sat down at my desk to catch up from the week, I opened my 401K statement…and I cried until I laughed.

Anybody else singing the 401K blues? If so, this is a good time to start selling more!

Secret #2: In order to achieve above average sales results. . .

Secret #2:
In order to achieve above average sales results, one must first be open to thinking about above average sales techniques.

When I first started in sales, I remember being surprised that the training I attended did more to teach me to sound just like everyone else than teaching me to differentiate myself.

If you look around your company or industry, you will find that some sellers are more effective than others even though they are selling similar products to the same type of customers. It’s more likely that their success is the result of their approach than just relying on dumb luck or fortunate circumstance.

The most important business issue every sales manager faces today is the same: How can we duplicate the success of top performing salespeople? At some point, it all comes down to having a differentiable strategy and superior sales technique.