… as quoted to me, while networking, by a male salesperson in his early thirties.
“Selling is a hunter/prey sport.”
A HUNTER/PREY SPORT?
You would be surprised how many business people throughout North America share this salesman’s 1950’s image of selling. Sellers who perpetuate selling metaphorically as a hunter/prey sport tend to be 35+ males. They will tell you they thrive on walk-in cold calls, rejection and objections. They believe ‘buyer’s remorse’ is the customer’s problem. Their heroes are men who can sell cats to mice and ice cubes to Eskimos. They make sales pitches and talk too much. They believe that to increase sales they simply have to get in front of more people. However today’s sophisticated, highly educated, market-savvy and time-starved buyers are increasingly unimpressed.
That over 90% of sales calls in the United States end without a sale (not much better in Canada, BTW) is it any wonder our North American economy limps along? Most companies stubbornly limit their successes by refusing to release their death grip on outdated selling axioms resulting in escalating sales costs, longer sell-cycles, fewer closes, high staff turn-over and weaker year-end results .
If, as a seller, you are sensing an enormous untapped opportunity well within your reach I applaud you and encourage you to evolve and prosper. For those of you who can’t quite see it yet … give it a few more moments.