Good morning everyone,
I hope that you are finally feeling Spring type weather. We area finally seeing it here in the mid-west two days after what I am hoping is the last snow of winter! I am just hoping this is not a cruel joke being played on us here in the Midwest!
As I was working through my book that I am hoping to have ready in the fall, I started thinking about who this book will be geared towards. Would it be for the sales professionals that need a refresher, new to sales, or people that hate sales people. The thought I had as of late is that it could be used for everyone.
Most people think of sales people as car salesmen, but in reality, everyone is selling something. When you start dating someone you are selling “You” as the product that the other person should buy as they are selling you them. When you are teaching children in school you are selling them that they need to learn what you are teaching. If you are a lawyer, you need the judge and jury to believe that your position is the correct side for them to favor. If you are a business owner, you need those that work for you to follow you and work with you. You need the influence.
I laugh a little when people say that they are not a sales person. When in reality they are trying to sell me on that idea and themselves for that matter. We buy into lies about ourselves that our unconscious mind is selling to us. If we buy into that then we are being sold on a perception.
Sales really is influence and the consistent process of building on that influence. Business owners often take the stance that I am the owner and everyone should follow me because they work for me. You may get initial buy in to your ideas, but you may also be seeing why you may be having unexplained turnover at your organization.
We live in a “me” society and can not understand why people do not agree with us all of the time. I know I get frustrated when I try to tell my wife that an ice cream sundae is a great option for dinner. I’m still trying to out work a bad diet which I am slowly losing as I get older.
When we want people to buy into our idea, do what we need them to do, and expect them to do what we say we are expecting people to act as pets. Unfortunately, we are not pets and have this thing called free will. Free will allows us to do what we want and not what someone else wants for us. It’s what separates us from the animal kingdom. Although cats seem to have free will as well. They are so good at staring contests as well.
In order to get others following us we need to be following the sales process with them on our why and gaining our influence. These are all parts in the sales process that I have been blogging about and am currently creating a book about. Understanding that process will help all of us figure out when someone is just trying to sell us, or when they are being genuine as well. Using the sales process we can be better at understanding and helping build our influence (in and ethical way) to move projects, relationships, and ideas forward with greater momentum.
Everyone is a sales person of something and we should better understand the process that is involved to become more efficient.
I am looking forward to moving into the editing phase so that this book can become a resource that others can use to help them improve. I am in the process of interviewing a few editors. If you know of any good editors, I would greatly appreciate hearing from you so that I can get this resource out to all of you sooner than later.
As always if you have questions, want to dig deeper, or if you would like to ask about other topics feel free to reach out to me at info@kevinsidebottom.com. Also, you can comment to the blog to keep the conversation going with other readers.
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
Sales and Leadership Enterprises