The Red Bag of Courage
On the Street
by E.J. Gold
The first lesson you learn in selling anything is that it's never the price, never the market, never the product. It's always about the SELLER.
The BUYER is the focus of the interaction, but NOT the focus of ATTENTION of the seller.
The seller must remain focused on the actual purpose, not the sale of the product.
What is the actual purpose of the interaction?
The actual purpose of the interaction is the interaction itself.
Mostly the interaction consists of helping the buyer overcome his or her own objections, superstitions and self-limitations that prevent the purchase.
The seller must learn to LISTEN to the buyer to actually HEAR what the buyer is saying, what the objections SEEM to be and to try to listen between the lines, behind the shadow-show, to understand what the objections really ARE.
The buyer will try to say "no" but will be unable to be honest, and will thus invent reasons why he or she can't or won't buy the product.
All those invented reasons MUST be answered by the seller, even though they are not honest, not real. They are the shadow-show that helps the buyer say "no".
The product is a souvenir of the interaction. It's something that the target can take away from the event, but only works this way if the interaction is pleasant and positive.
Every "no" is a stepping stone toward "yes".
Every failure is a stepping stone to success.
A good seller learns from experience and eventually sales are made on a regular basis.
vNo seller ever makes a sale every time they try to sell. Rejection takes getting used to.
Rejection is not personal. It is about the buyer, not the seller, if the seller is using the Basic Rules of Sale.
If the seller breaks the Rules of Sale, the rejection is about the seller.
What are the Basic Rules of Sale?
v1. Listen to the buyer.
2. Listen to the buyer.
3. Listen to the buyer.
The whole idea is not to bombard the buyer with dogma and rationality, but to LISTEN to the buyer's objections and GET THE BUYER TO ANSWER THEM himself or herself.
How you do that is an art, not a science, but there are definite scientific principles behind the art.
1. The buyer is on his or her way elsewhere and you were never a part of their plan to get wherever they are going. You are an interruption in their plan, an obstacle on the path, so ...
2. You must within a small fraction of the first second of interaction demonstrate clearly that what you have is what they want. In your hand should be something they automatically desire, that makes the mouth water with anticipated self-gratification and pleasure.
3. The interaction MUST be short. They are on their way somewhere and you must not be the cause for their delay or failure to make their way to whatever it is they are attracted to or driven toward.
4. Get and maintain eye contact. Do NOT let your vision stray toward the product. The product is secondary to the interaction.
5. Do NOT block the buyer's way. Stay on the side and keep moving with the buyer.
6. Follow the simple rule of "spare change" and realize that you are actually asking for spare change and giving a chocolate bar in thanks.
7. Thank the buyer and be sure to say "you won't be disappointed" after the sale is completed.
8. Make certain that you don't concentrate on the money, the product or the price. It's about meeting and chatting and having a good interaction, not about the product, price or marketplace.