John Kaufman discussed the art of differentiation when selling IT and IT training at CompTIA’s EMEA Member & Partner Conference this year.
Sales, he said, is not just a financial exchange – it is the art of influencing. We should learn from our everyday interactions with people to become better salespeople.
Using clips from the movie Hitch, in which Will Smith plays a suave dating guru, he explained how influencers can differentiate themselves.
He urged delegates to remember that any decision maker wants a business changing call, but most people don’t know what they want until they see it. Any salesperson has the chance to sweep any customer off their feet if they use the right approach.
We should start by being who we are, not try to fulfill what we think a salesman should be like. Salespeople are honest, genuine, hardworking people, so why would anyone play the stereotype of the slick, pushy salesperson.
Bad salespeople are too focused on the short game, but the long-term relationship is infinitely more rewarding. Avoid the cheesy chat-up lines, and instead identify a shared interest and build on that.
Once people have agreed to a call or a meeting, it means they are interested. The job of the salesperson, then, is not to mess it up – and one of the ways we mess things up is by focusing on telling the potential customer everything about our own products. In business, like in dating, you get a much better response if you show you care about what your potential partner wants. Look to become a trusted partner, not someone trying to quickly close the deal.
And if it doesn’t go right, don’t just blame the budget cut or the existing supplier. Think about what you could do better and take that away with you for next time.
