Now that the old way of selling has disappeared, where the salesman or the business has all the advantages, we have to use a new framework to be intentional in our sales.
Today, there is a new ABC of selling to approach sales with much more humanity, passion, and purpose.
I want to talk to you about a concept taken from the book to sell is human by Daniel Pink which inspired this video to shed new light on modern sales practices.
The old ABCs of selling
The old ABCs of selling, “Always be closing”, its clarity comes from its simplicity, and it can be constructive advice keeping sellers focused on the deals, and even during its beginning and middle, but the effectiveness of this advice is waning because the conditions in which we sell are changing.
When there were fewer of us in sales and when buyers had minimal choices, always be closing with sensible counsel.
But when all of us are in non-sales-based selling and customers have the internet providing massive amounts of information, you have to take a new perspective and approach to selling.
The new ABCs of sales
The new ABC’s of selling are A Attunement, B Buoyancy and C Clarity.
These three qualities emerged from social science research as the new requirements for effectively moving people to make a decision in modern sales.
In the book “This is Marketing”, best-selling author Seth Godin explains that when we talk with our community of customers and prospects, the single most important thing we should be thinking of is simply building more trust.
The goal is not to always close
As a result, the goal is not to always close, but rather to always build trust.
Now let’s take a look at the new ABC’s of selling.
A is for Attunement
A is for attunement. Humility, perspective, and mimicry.
Attunement is the ability to bring your actions and outlook into harmony with the people and the context that you’re in. Our ability to see from someone else’s perspective is a huge part of being able to achieve attunement.
3 Components to Attunement
Dan tells us that there are three components to attunement.
1. Increase power by reducing it
Research shows that if you’re feeling a bit too almighty, you’re going to have a hard time connecting with others and therefore selling them on anything. The antidote to that is to practice a little humility.
2. Empathy
Empathy is also, of course, a very important aspect of humanity, but Dan tells us when it comes to moving others’ perspective-taking is the more effective of these fraternal twins.
As the researchers say, ultimately, it’s more beneficial to get inside their heads than to have them inside one’s own heart.
Now, how do we do this? Simple when you’re negotiating or otherwise selling someone on an idea, try to imagine what that other person is thinking.
3. Mimic Strategically
If you’ve ever been to a leadership seminar or a Tony Robbins event, you’ll hear lots of talk about mirroring. The problem is that as with most advice, it’s become overly homogenized, in my opinion, and all the context has been taking out leading to moron speakers telling their audience to copy your mimic, what your customer does. If they fold their arms, you fold yours and et cetera.
Now, don’t do this. What it means to mimic is that people were connecting to and getting on with often share our body language and vice versa. Do not copy people a la Andy from the US office. Look for mimicking a note it. Don’t force it.
B is for Buoyancy
Anyone who sells, whether they’re trying to convince customers to make a purchase or colleagues to make a change must contend with wave after wave of refusals.
Staying afloat amid that ocean of rejection is the second essential quality in moving others.
We call this quality buoyancy. If you understand buoyancy is three components, which are applied before, during, and after. Any effort to move people to make a decision, you can use it effectively in your own sales methodology.
1. Before
As we prepare, we can psych ourselves up via positive declarations like all of the self-help gurus have told us to do, or we can do something more effective, which is to ask ourselves a question and it’s called interrogative self-talk and it’s surprisingly effective.
Now you could tell yourself, “I’m the best. This is going to be a breeze. I’m going to smash this.”
That might give you a short-term emotional boost. But if instead, you ask, “Can I make this a great pitch?”
The research has found that you provide yourself with something that reaches a little deeper and lasts a lot longer.
2. During
During your pitch keep the positivity ratio high. Now, Dan talks about research on positivity. We want to ratio of positive to negative interactions of around three to one.
Three positive things to talk about. and one negative thing. Not one-to-one. not two to one, definitely not eleven to one. A grounded three to one, willing to talk about challenging stuff yet more positive than negative.
These are healthy positivity ratio as a calibration between the two competing pools of levity and gravity.
Levity is that unseen force that lifts you Skyward. Whereas gravity is the opposing force that pulls you earthward.
Unchecked levity leaves you flighty, ungrounded, and unreal. Unchecked gravity leaves you collapsed in a heap of misery.
When levity and gravity are properly combined, these two opposing forces leave you buoyant.
3. After
Afterward, the habit of believing that it was my fault. It’s going to last forever. It’s going to undermine everything I do is debilitating.
This self-talk can diminish performance, trigger depression and turn setbacks into disasters.
It probably is your fault, but that means you need to take responsibility and change it not just wallow in the mistake.
The good news is that if it was your fault, you can change it and get better.
C is for clarity
Dan urges us not to get lost in the crab grass of details. I really like that imagery. Crabgrass of details. Instead think about the essence of what you’re exploring.
The 1% that gives life to the other 99%. Understanding that 1% and being able to explain it to others is the hallmark of a strong mind.
Clarity operates by the same logic, whether you’re selling computers to a giant company or a new bedtime to your youngest child, asks yourself, “What is the 1%?” If you can answer that question and convey it to others, they’re more likely to be moved.
Are you asking the right questions?
In persuading others questions can outperform statements. We believe something more strongly when we come up with our own reasons for believing it, rather than when someone else tells us why we should believe it.
Having the ability to ask the right questions is more valuable than producing the right answers in the new way of modern selling.
Unfortunately, our schools usually teach us the opposite that having the right answer is far more important than asking questions.
Are you asking questions that encourage prospects and customers to be curious, learn and understand your product or service even better?
Servant Selling
The idea of servant selling begins with the idea that those who move others aren’t manipulators but servants. They serve first and sell later.
If the person you’re selling to agrees to buy, will his or her life improve? When your interaction is over, will the world be a better place than when you began?
An effective salesperson isn’t just some huckster who’s out for profit. A true salesperson is an idealist and an artist.
Among the things that distinguish our species from others is our combination of idealism and artistry. Our desire is both to improve the world and provide the world with something it didn’t know it was missing.
Moving others doesn’t require that we neglect these nobler aspects of our nature. Today, it demands that we embrace them. It begins and ends by remembering that to sell is human.
When practicing servant selling, always ask and answer these two questions:
- If the person you’re selling agrees to buy will his or her life improve?
- When your interaction is over, will the world be in a better place than when you began?
We’re all in sales now. Let’s serve first and sell for the better.
