‘There is no such thing as failure. There are only different results.’   Mike Lipkin, CEO of Environics/Lipkin, Canada’s leading research and motivation company.

Mike Lipkin is right. How often have you thought, “I lost that sale, I’ve failed.” The truth is most so-called lost sales could not have been closed by any reputable seller, or should not have been closed in the first place.  Most of the so-called ‘failure’ salespeople endure is based on four misguided notions:

  • Every prospect is a potential sale
  • A sale succeeds or fails on the salesperson’s merit
  • Selling is a coercive skill-set. He/she who masters it, wins
  • The products or services I sell are right for everyone
  • It’s all about the ‘close’

Today’s sophisticated sellers use a step by step qualification/disqualification matrix to identify prospects who need what they sell, are ready to buy, have the authority to buy, have the money to buy and who welcome their attention. Today’s reputable sellers are impartial advisers, carefully guiding their prospects toward informed and timely buying decisions or ‘not-buying’ decisions that are mutually beneficial for the long-term. If need and ability to satisfy need exist, both parties see it and a sale occurs organically. No pressure, no coercion, no convincing, no stress.

Salespeople who adopt this new selling paradigm earn the respect and admiration of their customers and of the person they see in the mirror. They save precious time, earn more money and thoroughly enjoy the honoured and oldest profession on the planet … SELLING.