Many of us resist sales and influence. We don’t like to sell. We don’t want to be sold. We see sales as somehow difficult, dirty, or dangerous. The same goes for influence.
Yet we need to sell and be sold to. We need to influence and be influenced. Consider all your relationships with clients, partners, current or potential employers, colleagues, friends, and family members. Every day we offer them our wares, our services, or our ideas. We want them to buy or agree to at least some of our offers. And we must buy or agree to at least some of what they offer us. If we wish to succeed, then these are inescapable truths simply because we cannot succeed alone.
What we really need is a better way to sell and influence. We would call it “natural influence and selling,” “natural sales,” or “sales for those who’d rather not.” And it would start with this definition:
Natural sales and influence are the simple ways we make offers (of ideas, products, or services) to and accept (or not) offers from each other grounded in the principle of win-win
This better approach would not be difficult, dirty, or dangerous. It would instead work, feel good, and fit us well. We could all be good at it. And it would make our success even simpler.
In your corner,
Mike
Good one. Sales is so misunderstood by the seller and the buyer. THe best sales people (or influencers) help the buyer buy the right offering. Our natural defenses go up when sales people try to sell us something. We have learned that often they are selling something we may not want or need. A good sales person understands the customers needs or desires then presents an offering that meets that need/desire. No SELLING involved; just help the customer buy what she or he wants.
Yes! And we who do not see ourselves as salespeople yet must sell (e.g. our ideas, recommendations, etc.) need a way to embrace this no-selling form of sales.