When Giving-up is a good thing

Over the past year this blog has evolved to become the application of methods that are Repetitive, Powerful, and Gentle to the practice of making money. Simplistic approaches to business issues frequently pass the the Repetitive and Powerful tests; however, truly effective practices must also qualify as Gentle and here is where many, like traditional selling, fail.

The largest consumer of motivational materials and methods is the US Sales and Marketing industry. Care to guess who might be number 2? It's the US military. This leads us to wonder, what is it about our traditional approaches to sales that is like the military? Do Sales Departments require a constant infusion of outside motivation because, like the military, they are organizations built around the acquisition and application of force? For those in sales that are drained by its continual churn, or those being pursued by smiling, manipulative salespeople, it seems the answer seems to be YES.

Poor observers of successful salespeople have concluded that they are master of Persuasion. This isn't really the case; however, it's a business myth that is relentlessly taught. Persuasion is verbal manipulation and not at all what we feel comfortable in calling gentle. This is the connection to motivational methods. When I hear a sales professional using them, I have to leave (at least mentally, if I can't physically).

More accurate observers of successful salespeople have started to realize that they have a talent in Qualification, rather than Persuasion. They have a heart for who really needs their products and services (it's never everyone!); and a sensitivity in understanding their prospects enough to know if there is a basis to beginning a sales process. It's time consuming and complex enough to work with someone qualified to be a customer (that is, they actually need, understand, and can afford the product). The efforts spent "selling" someone not obviously qualified is counter-productive.

Working with sales prospects is no different than traders working with options or gamblers with their games. Over and over again studies in these two areas have shown most traders and gamblers win about the same. The successful ones are those that lose the least. They continually qualify their positions and when it doesn't look like a win, they accept a small loss and simply leave. If a sales prospect doesn't qualify, the successful salesperson leaves them alone. The motivated loser keeps on.

Giving up trying to serve is completely different from giving up trying to sell. The highest use of our lives comes from service and we often can serve those who do not qualify as clients by helping them solve their problems in other ways. This can be anything from a simple expression of empathy to a referral to one of your strategic partners. If your intention is to always finish strong, a way to do that will always appear.

Photo credit: bk2204