Let’s have some fun today and talk about being normal when you are selling to others.
Do you ever find yourself struggling to make sales, connect with customers, or simply talk about your business to others? Like, somehow when you’re speaking, the words don’t even make sense as they leave your lips? If you’re reading this, it’s because you don’t mean to be weird, but it happens. And it happens to all of us.
Today is an intervention.
(click here to listen to this or the play button below)
We all know what it’s like to be sold to by an uncomfortable sales person, and we just wish that we don’t come across like that. So let’s talk about…
Don’t be a weirdo.
No one wants to be thought of as “salesy.” But you DO have a product and service that people love. You want to help them purchase it and have it and love it. But sometimes the thought of trying to convince them stops you dead in your tracks.
Remember that everyone is in sales.
It is not something reserved for a select group of people. If you want customers, you need to know how to get them to take action and buy your stuff.
Whether you are brand new at selling, or you are a veteran rep, it’s totally normal to get caught in the trap of being a weirdo. The trick is catching yourself and doing something about it.
Real selling is simply the transfer of emotion. Everything we are talking about in this post is how to make sure you are connecting and resonating with others, and you aren’t weird.1) Start by Observing Yourself
Lately, I’ve been having a ton of fun with my clients on this idea. It has become part of our discussion regularly. We go through sales calls, processes, and emails, and now they are adopting the “I was being a weirdo” language. It’s pretty funny. When you can step back and just observe that it’s happening, that’s a big first step.
Simply bringing conscious attention to anything will allow you to see what you weren’t seeing. And as you develop your skills over time, you will begin to identify more complex behaviors and patterns as well as increase your self-awareness and social-awareness.
Before you make changes, I will simply tell you to identify where and when you feel like you’re being salesy.
To get better at selling, catch yourself being a salesy weirdo.
2) Only Change One Thing at a Time
Now that you have identified these moments of weirdness, take a small step forward.
I’ve talked previously about Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman where he discusses the two systems of our brain. What you want to do is to keep yourself in a state of sales flow, while at the same time, bring in conscious thought to see what else is going on.
That may seem complicated, but think of developing your sales process and language like you are learning to drive a car or learning a new language. At first, it takes more mental effort because you have to pay attention to multiple stimuli at once, but over time, those conscious thoughts of the system 2 brain become unconscious, autonomic thoughts and you have more cognitive ease.
If you try and take on too much and apply too many skills at once, you will seem unnatural.
If you seem like you’re not your real self, you’ll look like a salesy weirdo
3) Use Simple Language
I see this way too often. Long sales calls that have too many facts, figures, and well-constructed language that attempts to delight and impress customers. Yuck.
The true talent of communication is to help COMMUNICATE to others. Our goal in the “transfer of emotion” is to essentially get them to believe what we believe. If you mask that with words and phrases or unnecessary diagrams, you aren’t helping at all!
It dawned on me a few months ago that we should think like we are speaking to a 13 year old and see if what we say actually makes sense. Check out that post here.
A 2005 Princeton Study hilariously titled Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly talks about how simpler language increases fluency.
Fluency leads to higher judgments of truth, confidence, frequency, fame, and even liking. – Daniel Oppenheimer
A master level skill is the ability to turn a 60 minute presentation into 20. Keep in mind that people don’t remember much after that.
So ask yourself if you are trying to help simplify a complex idea for someone else, or do you simply mask mediocre ideas with complex language?
Don’t try and impress them, let them be impressed by you.
If you speak complex nonsense, you sound like a salesy weirdo.
4) Get Rid of Sales Breath
“Hi sir, how can I help you today? (So I can hit my quota or I may lose my job).”
Selling is tough. You want something from someone else, and you don’t want then to feel like you’re using them. Keep in mind that money only represents an indirect exchange. It is just a mechanism to demonstrate value. It is not a prized possession. If you have something valuable to offer, then you should never feel bad about asking for money. It’s your duty to help people buy from you.
So forget about the MONEY!
In my last post on tips to increase sales today, I mentioned the sales breath idea and how to overcome it, but it keeps coming up! The whole premise is that you should shift your intention away from what you want from others. Instead, focus your energy on what value you give them, how you can help them, and who you need to be to succeed.
The faster you stop worrying about meeting targets and instead shift your attention to serving your customer, the faster the money actually starts coming in!
This is one of those constant reminders even the most seasoned professionals need.
Any time you feel like you aren’t getting the results you want, don’t blame the market, the price, or the objections. Look inside yourself and see if you are projecting the wrong energy and thinking too much about what YOU want from them. Instead, go add value to the lives of your customers.
When you reek of sales breath, you are a salesy weirdo.
5) Ask and Intrigue – Instead of Solve
Your customers are not looking for you to swoop in and save the day.
Of course, what you offer will solve their problem, but that’s not what they need in the sales conversation. They need help making sense of the problems they have, BEFORE you talk solutions.
- As guys, we have a hard time not trying to solve problems for the women in our lives.
- If you are a woman, I’m sure you have said this to your guy before, “I don’t need you to solve this for me.”
I want you to think about the sales conversation for a moment and how it is exactly like this. If you want to get ridiculously good at helping people buy from you, you must master the skill of asking the BEST questions, being able to demonstrate understanding of their problem, and to share insights that surprise and inspire them.
Your ultimate goal is to help them frame their problem. You have to be the one who helps them see what they really need, before a solution is presented.
Read my post and check out the bottom for the three part sales conversation for a framework that you can use.
If you try and rush to solve your customer’s problems, you are a salesy weirdo.
6) Push, Not Pushy
The most misunderstood aspect of selling is the concept of being pushy. No one likes a pushy salesperson and no one wants to be a pushy salesperson. It conjures up images of the sleazy car dealership or telemarketers who wont let you off the phone.
But…at the same time, WEAK salespeople don’t influence decisions. You need to make sales.
You see, humans have a hard time making decisions for themselves. That is why we have a comfort zone.
Have you ever purchased something that you know you wanted but were a bit uncomfortable with the price? And then when it was exactly what you wanted, how happy were you?
Listen, people want to buy from you. And more often than not, they will need your help taking the leap to the purchase. When I talk about being a sales hero, what I mean is that you help your customers take action and create the change in their life they are looking for.
However these things need to be in place:
- You have to have a good product or service – not a lemon
- You have to believe in your offer
- You have to make sure you are operating in their best interests
If that’s all there, then don’t be afraid to challenge them to take action. To help them see the future. And to make the decision. They will love you for it.
Don’t make excuses why they won’t buy.
If you only push customers for your own self interest, you are a salesy weirdo
7) Please don’t be Needy
Have you ever felt bad for someone trying to sell you something? Like you were breaking their heart? Maybe you just felt bad for them because they fumbled the whole presentation and now you almost want to buy because of pity. (My face is twisted up just writing that)
Here’s the kicker – there is NO SCARCITY in the world of customers who want to buy from you.
The only scarcity is in your mindset.
When you are needy, you are in a lower social status and have zero power. You will hear me say over and over that the two words that kill me inside are:
- DISCOUNTING
- CHASING
Get it into your mind that you are someone worth chasing. That what you offer has real value for your marketplace and people want to buy it.
Don’t devalue who you are and what you offer by letting the customer feel like they are the ones to chase. They are just the ones who have the money. Money is useless unless it’s doing something valuable. If they take that useless money and exchange it for what you have, it then becomes useful!
Keep this idea on your mind at all times. You don’t NEED them. Adopt the mindset of “I don’t need the business.”
I have had some clients get crazy results with this thought alone. When they realized that they were the hot stuff and people should chase them to buy what they had, their business shifted. It became fun. They were getting better customers, and the people they met were excited to work with them.
Think about how what you do and who you are makes customers want to chase YOU.
If you are needy, you’re a salesy weirdo.
8) Above all Else, Have Fun (Don’t Worry, You can Still Be Professional)
Want someone to smile? Smile at them…
I just had a call with a sales team yesterday about this idea. They are wrestling with the notion of having fun without seeming unprofessional. They don’t want to be salesy weirdos, super formal, and boring. But at the same time, they don’t want to come across as immature, unprepared, or unpolished.
I realized I had advocated a bit too much on the fun side and that was throwing them off. They thought it was all about telling jokes and being overly casual. No no no…
You don’t need to be unprofessional to have fun with selling.
You need to look like you sincerely enjoy what you do. That this is a fun job for you. And the catch is that you can’t really fake it – people can spot fake fun pretty quick.
Why is fun important?
When you have fun with what you do, it shows others:
- You like what you do and it may be fun working with you
- You are confident. (That confidence then gets transferred to them)
- You are trustworthy
- You are a leader
- If you seem like you enjoy it, you transfer the joy of the process to them
- Put the reptilian brain at ease. You tap more into the limbic system – people are more willing to listen
- That you don’t NEED them
- That you are attractive to others
One of the big things that having fun does is that it taps into the power of mirror neurons. Psychologically, we are programmed to follow – it is a survival mechanism. Watch the video below to see how infectious laughter really is.
Did you smile? Did you laugh? You can’t help it. If you didn’t smile or laugh, you may need to go to the doctor…
When you really enjoy making an impact with your customers and helping them buy from you, it will seem effortless. And that’s how it should be!
If you cant have fun selling, you are a salesy weirdo.
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I really want you to digest these ideas today. They seem simple, but they will make a MASSIVE difference in how you sell now and into the future. So go have fun and dont be a weirdo.
Remember to like and share this. Maybe comment below on some of your own weirdo stories!
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4 replies to "Don’t be a “Salesy” Weirdo: 8 Simple Steps"
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