Daily Archives: April 29, 2010

Death of ALL Salesmen!

29 Thursday Apr 2010

Posted by in Branding, Consulting, Information Technology, Management Practices, Passionate People, Public Relations, Re-Imagine!, Rotary, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Social Media Relations

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

Dear Mr. Webster:

Please remove the following words from your dictionary:  ‘Sales‘, ‘salesman‘, ‘salesperson‘, ‘selling‘, ‘advertise‘, ‘ads‘, …oh, and while you’re at it, remove that word, ‘metrics‘.

My reasons are as follows:  While there are still gullible people who can be manipulated into buying something they don’t need, ‘selling‘ is an illegitimate word for today’s socially interactive, connected, and informed world.  It can be eliminated.

The same is true for ‘advertising‘. The idea of annoying people while they are involved in an activity like reading, watching TV, or listening to music has forced people to find alternatives to being inflicted with a sales pitch as payment for doing something they enjoy. In a social interactive world we don’t need to be assaulted.  People will discover good products and services through mass personal communication, therefore, advertising can also be eliminated.

As for the irksome term ‘metrics‘, it makes people giggle when some pompous fool uses it, so ….wait, nevermind ….keep ‘metrics’, it helps me identify our village idiots.

Thanks so much.

Sincerely,

Paul Kiser

Attention Must Be Earned!: Don’t Sell, Educate

Paul Kiser - CEO of Enterprise Technologies, inc.

Selling is a term that implies aggressiveness and manipulation.  It gives business owners the mistaken belief that if customers aren’t buying their product or service that it must be the fault of the ‘Sales’ team.

Here’s a thought: If people aren’t buying what you’re selling, maybe it’s because your products or services SUCK!

If a person doesn’t need a product or service, ‘selling’ them it will only lead to buyer’s remorse/regret and make the customer irritated at the company that manipulated them. Selling is the act of a desperate person who doesn’t believe in their product or service, but still hopes that they can find a sucker to bite. Selling something a person doesn’t need is a scam and it should be reserved for companies that have no honor or dignity.

The only time a product or service should be purchased is when it is needed by a customer and/or when it will improve the customer’s life.  Usually, a customer is not aware of all the products or services that can improve their life and that is an opportunity to educate, not sell.  Education is a service that makes the customer smarter.  It is not aggressive, nor desperate and it leads to a stronger bond between the customer and business.  Education is offered by a consultant that has his or her customer’s best interest in mind.

To educate a customer requires that the consultant know the client/customer.  The consultant should not be working for her or his company, but rather for the client. What is on the line is the brand, not of the company, but of the consultant.  A person who ‘sells’ damages his or her reputation and the person who educates becomes a valuable resource.

Educating rather than selling is a simple concept, but so few businesses seem to grasp it.  Why?  Because too many business think in the short-term – “What are our sales this month?” It’s a bad way to do business and it leads to pressure to ‘make a sale’. If revenue is down there are three possibilities.

  1. The customer has been well-taken care of and doesn’t need anything else now.
  2. The customer doesn’t realize that your company has a solution that they need.
  3. The customer knows your products/services suck.

If the situation is the first reason (a satisfied customer), then the consultant has done his or her job well!  A consultant can only take action if the situation is the second reason (needs more education.) However, if business is down because of the third reason (inferior product/service) then it is the business owner’s fault, not the consultant’s.

It is time to stop abusing customers. Start treating them with respect.  Kill your sales staff (well, not literally) and all terms that suggest manipulating the people who keep you in business.  It is a win-win for everyone.

More blogs