Years ago, I wrote a book titled “Become the Exception.” I thought I might highlight the first four chapters of the book which featured the four myths associated with the selling profession, according to me.
Myth Number One: Selling is a numbers game.
You’ve all heard it before. Make enough calls and ring enough doorbells and you will eventually sell something. This accurately defines the old numbers game. It might have resulted in a few sales back then, but I think that way of going to market has become outdated. It has become a myth. Selling is no longer a numbers game.
Selling today more closely resembles a game of darts. In darts, you have your target (the bull’s eye), and you have your dart (which can be considered as today’s marketing weapon.)
You know exactly where you are throwing that dart … exactly whom you want to do business with. Selling has become a game of “who do you want to do business with?”
Once you identify who you want to do business with, all you need to do is take the marketing weapon of choice and direct it toward the target.
If we throw the dart and it goes low and to the left, we know the next dart is going to go higher and to the right. We keep adjusting our effort until we eventually zero in on the target. And that happens to be the customer we want to do business with.
Myth Number Two: You must learn to deal with rejection.
That’s not true. You must not flatter yourself. People are not rejecting you. You don’t have to take it personally. You don’t have to be thick-skinned. People are rejecting the situation. They don’t have the money; they don’t have the time; they don’t have the wherewithal; they don’t want to go. There are a lot of different reasons why people say no to you. Don’t take their decision not to buy personally. Just move on to the next dart board.
Myth Number Three: Stress comes with the territory.
Selling is not stressful if you know how it works. And here is the truth. There are only two types of people in the entire world: (1) people you can help and (2) people you can’t help. That’s it. Two.
You can divide all eight billion people on our planet into just two categories: (1) people you can help and (2) people you can’t help. If you run into a person you can’t help, there’s no reason to be stressed, you just happened upon a person in category #2. Your job is to go find more people that you can help… those who make up category #1.
Myth Number Four: Somebody once said that in order to be successful in sales you must like people.
News Flash! I don’t like “people.” Huh? There’s a lot of “people” who are dishonest in this world. There are a lot of people who cheat and lie and steal. Many people lack a sense of humor and spend most of their waking hours moaning, whining, and complaining. I don’t like those people. I choose not to associate with them.
But, I do like the people I like.
I tell you this is because there’s probably a lot of people on your customer list, who you don’t like. I’m the first to suggest that you need to find a way to lose these energy sappers.
Get rid of those people who are stressing you out, bogging you down or not paying your invoices, or demanding too much of your time, or trying to get something for nothing. We don’t want to do business with those people. Once you lose a few of the duds, you will be opening up more time to spend with your valued clients.
There you have it. The four myths of selling have now become yesterday’s news.
Mike Marchev is always looking for a few more proactive travel professionals to join his Sales and Marketing Club, mike@mikemarchev.com.
*** You want more to think about? Check out my weekly podcast (Miked Up Marchev). Also listed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google, and iHeartRadio.
