Sales people are told at the onset of their careers to expect REJECTION. It’s just part of selling. Wrong!

There is no profession on earth that would tolerate the level of rejection ‘selling’ experiences without seriously examining its methods, motives, investments … without uncovering the critical defect and correcting it. It would be like NASA discovering an oxygen leak on Discovery and launching anyway. North American sellers could be accused of doing just that, for over half a century, were it not for one undeniable fact. Most sellers are not remotely aware they have a leak.

The leaks … the defects, are self-service and poor or no qualification skills. Since time began the quest for THE SALE, THE CLOSE, and MEETING QUOTA has been all-encompassing. At the furthest end of the selling axis the motivation has been greed, at the other end … ignorance. Almost a year ago to the day an exasperated business woman said this about selling. “In business I need a partner, an ally … I don’t need another salesman.” In that quote lies the road to redemption for salespeople and, as importantly, for those who employ them. But what needs to change?

Post secondary education for one. In a world that employs tens of thousands of sales people not one of these sales people has a degree in ‘selling’. There are no degrees in ‘selling’. There is no curriculum, no exam, no standard. There are no rules.

Industry needs to change, too. From banks to brothels salespeople are pushed out on to the streets and ordered to meet quota, or else !!!. What the presidents and madams have failed to realize is that, as surely as we no longer need to put film in cameras to take pictures, our salespeople no longer need to be mercenaries to sell our products and services. In fact the selling profession pushes more business away than it attracts. The reason is that North Americans are fed up with being sold to. We are fed up with the traditional salesperson.

For those of you sensing a huge opportunity here, you are absolutely on the right track. However, there is one more thing we all need to understand and do before deploying our new and improved salespeople into the field to put our competitors out of business. It’s called ‘support’. Contact us!