Winners shift their thinking to shift better results

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Fashions change. Politics change. Social morals change. But, since man began to trade money for goods, sales has largely remained the same: target a prospect, make an offer, negotiate, overcome resistance, close the deal.

As we become more connected, more aware,  time-tested sales methods are losing effectiveness. We’ve all heard the scripts, seen techniques. We know them when we smell them. Time has come for something new that doesn’t just put lipstick on the carcass of script-selling.

Nothing happens till someone buys something

In the old Tom Hopkins push-sales world, it was generally accepted that nothing happens till someone sells something. Today we live in a pull-sales world where customers are in control. These days, nothing happens until someone BUYS something. Sales isn’t pushing boxes anymore; those guys get a sale, but seldom create a relationship. Sales is about attracting a buyer and working in alignment.

If Web 2.0 is where users control the experience, sales 2.0 is where customer concerns control the process. Four Speed Selling is Sales 2.0. People buying from you have been sold to since birth. There ain't a pitch they haven’t seen. And yet, pitches keep on coming.  So, get real and get ahead.

Authenticity is coin of the realm of our new reality

"Authenticity is everything," an old sales trainer once told me." Once you can fake that, you got it made. You gotta care, but not too much." He’s probably still peddling that malarkey to a ready market of puppy-breath newbies eager to make an easy sale.

He was right, though: Authenticity is everything . Since every word you say can be instantly fact-checked, your every word and action either digs a hole or lays a foundation on which to build longer-term relationships. When you're working to align, you're automatically doing the latter.

High pressure = high opposition

Mules and people don’t like to be pushed; both dig in making it difficult to determine which is the ass. Pushing and prodding isn’t selling, it’s peddling. Just like home show pitchmen pushing magic mops and cleaners, high-pressure selling aims to overwhelm reason to create buying activity. If the mop were indeed magical, why would it be sold out of the back of a truck in a 10x10 booth?

Bullfighters don’t step into the ring to capture their opponent; bulls know where they want to go. The successful bullfighter guides the bull to go where it wants to go--faster. He is working in alignment with the bull. So it is with effective Four Speed Selling. Before you can get out of first gear, you have to determine if the customer is going where you can take them.

Alignment demands tough choices up front. You don't advance a relationship by selling something because you want a customer to buy it. You may hit a budget--this month. But, budgets come and go. Well-aligned, loyal clients will be there month after month. A Four Speed Seller knows a good sale is an aligned sale.

Alignment breeds long-term success

Caveman seller want business. He beat prospect over head with pitch to get it. Take money. Call it win. Go get more.  Caveman seller heading for extinction. Cavemen sellers still among us.

Alignment is defined as a position of agreement or alliance. At the end of every sale alignment is what leads to repeat business. Alignment is the true metric of successful selling.

I can’t count the number of clients over the years who have complained to me about hit-and-run sellers: pitch, close, collect and disappear. That’s not selling, that’s stealing. That’s also an expensive way to make a living.

Consider the cost in time alone taken up finding new, qualified prospects. Aligned sales relationships increase predictable income while decreasing the cost of doing business. A properly aligned relationship also generates added business through increased referrals.

By understanding what your client wants and helping them get it, you achieve alignment. Because Four Speed Selling is grounded in alignment, it  provides a mechanism that ensures you’re on the road to sustainable results.