What the sell… !?
To sell or not to sell, that’s the question. Or is it? Well, maybe not literally. I mean sale is sort of a necessity for doing… business. And long ago, when homo sapiens weren’t the top dog of the chain, it was a necessity even for life, for survival. Being able to extend trades beyond our own tribal borders made us not only less vulnerable for sudden change to conditions, but also more competent with the extended sharing of knowledge.
So, what is it we mean by the notion — to sell or not to sell? Basically, it’s about a mindset. Are we making money by selling or by not ”selling”. Maybe a bit blurry to take in from the traditional point of view so let’s dig into it a little bit.
“To sell or not to sell!”
The mindset we teach out and that to our experience have proven to be the best and most effective (generally speaking) is where you don’t look at sell as a sort of closed environment, not really overlapping other areas — but mostly about pushing figures into the right direction. This is not black and white, and we know that sales mostly are part of an intricate organizational flowchart where functions are overlapping. Though, we want to make a push for a mindset where sale equals the result of the core foundation of the company — its identity.
Why? Simply, because human nature doesn’t change with a nice flowchart. And human nature flourish into its full potentials when she is connected to a purpose, a belonging and a mission which have an actual impact. From validated research we get the same answer over and over again. The human being is equipped for achieving performances well beyond our imaginations — as long as she is triggered by the right ingredients. Take them away (even partly) and you will end up with the same results as before: perhaps satisfactory in relation to past achievements, but what does that mean!? Change the mindset and say bye bye to ”relatively satisfactory results”. Enters: exceptional results part of a new playing field.
“If we are dedicated the mission of our company, we’ll be selling by not selling”
Number one. We are all salespeople. And if we are dedicated the mission of our company, we’ll be selling by not ”selling” anymore. The energy of the people, the ideas, the networking, the marketing etc. will exude an attraction beyond what any micro-details and checklists can even come close to generate.
Number two. Salespeople are people (no shit!?). And inspired people perform 125% greater than satisfied people. That’s huge! And consider the results in figures. Yes, a new playing field indeed. This by focusing on the core issue rather than the symptom itself: the potentials of a stronger identity rather than getting stuck in technical details of how to increase sale by focusing on sales. Getting it? If you want different (greater) results, shift focus.
Number three. Refinement of selling techniques. What most people don’t know is that sale is a lot of fun. Maybe not so much if you’re selling stuff that won’t bring you (yes, you — you as the one selling) any purpose or connection to a greater mission (company values aligned with the employee’s values rather than the opposite). The techniques will help you get the process structured and organized and a lot more efficient. Also, our mindset to sales includes an attitude where the collective comes first. Anything else brings politics and personal agendas which only harm the company performance in a whole. Therefore, set off an occurring sales-event for the whole company (depending on the size) where you collaborate and come up with ideas together (someone always knows someone…), follow up and celebrate progress!
Most companies jump — headfirst — into number three in order to achieve more. Don’t be one of those. Take a breath and have the guts to take a broader perspective. It will bring you synergies beyond your imagination and a playing field where the attitude of possible goes from theory to practice.
Do you want to know more about selling with identity, please contact us via our website.
Source: Bain & Company, EIU Research 2015
