In selling, there’s pressure. Perform or be gone. And this pressure can kill your effectiveness. But pressure doesn’t have to be a negative. Trust me, if you’re good enough, you don’t feel pressure except in knowing your performance will render it a total non-issue.
I want to share an incredible story that will bring you back to the very essence of selling. The essence that, if we can remain true to it, will propel us beyond any pressure to perform. Our success will simply take care of itself.
I have always loved the outdoors. Hiking, camping, rafting, all of it. I see a Bass Pro Shop or REI and I have stop in to so see what’s new.
A few years back, I was planning to take on a new section of the Appalachian Trail. So in gearing up for the trip I went boot shopping and ended up relearning one of the most fundamental selling truths that has ever existed. Yes, it was that big!
Bass Pro Shop has virtually EVERYTHING for hiking. So I stopped in to look for boots which I’ve always had problems with. I went over to a MASSIVE wall of hiking boots. I was thinking about my last experience hiking, when I hear a voice behind me ask “Looking at boots?” I gave a very obvious answer of “Why yes.” Mr. Eager sales guy then said “Well, let me show you what we got.” Out of an entire wall of boots, he pointed out one very sturdy but heavy boot and began to explain its features; waterproof, ankle support, locking speed-laces, feature after feature, and on and on he went. It also just happened to be the most expensive boot they sold. As my eyes glazed over I realized I really didn’t want to listen to this guy. So I cut him short with a “let me look around a bit,” and left.
A few days later I stopped into a much smaller specialty-hiking store near Hiawassee, Georgia. Tiny little place packed with gear. I stood looking at a display of only 7 models of boots when I heard a voice from behind, “Looking at boots are ya?” I actually smelled him coming before he got there. Firewood, incense, and a clear hint of marijuana; lets just say, his scent arrived before he did! I was about to send Mr. Fragrance on his way when he said “bro, I love to hike, you too?” He called me “bro”. I was 54 years old so that made me chuckle. There stood a 20-something, quintessential “mountain hippie” guy. “You hiking the AT?” he asked. I told him, yes, my last trip was the first 18 miles of the Appalachian Trail. I told him how beautiful it was and about the bears I saw, and the story about the night I left my beef jerky in my backpack. “Bro, I love “The Trail!”, it’s got some gnarly hikes.” So he asked me what I liked, where I went, how my equipment fared and, finally, why I was in his store. I shared that I’ve never found a boot I really loved. They are either too stiff or too soft. They either don’t breath, or they let water in. And they all give me blisters, especially when bouldering. “Bro, I get it. You’ve been using those old stiff, Swiss ankle boots right?” Yep, I said. Then he said “check this out” and took down a boot that looked more like some strange hi-top basket ball shoe hybrid boot. “Bro, this boots the s*!t, fits like a glove and moves with you when you boulder.” I put them on and was blown away. They felt like nothing I had ever worn and I could not wait to try them on a hike. The guy was spot on in finding and addressing my needs, and before you knew it I had dropped a cool $300 on a new pair of boots. I didn’t even care about the price.
As I was checking out I said to hippie dude “you’re good at this.” Good at what he asked. Selling, I said. I have been selling for years and man, you’re a natural. He looked confused, “I don’t sell bro, I just really love to get to know people and find out what they they love about the outdoors, what they need, and then I show things that I know will work for them.”
BOOM! There it is. I realized, in that moment, that I had forgotten one of the oldest and most important tenets of sales, persuasion and even leadership. And how could I? I’m a man who has made the study of selling a life’s passion? It honestly freaked me out. What we think, feel or say about our idea, product, or anything else is largely irrelevant. We do not “convince” people to buy an idea or thing. Rather we should simply relate to them, uncover their needs and address those needs. It’s so simple we dismiss it! What I had forgotten was that, whether you’re selling boots, advice or fractional ownership of a jet, people buy emotionally, then use facts and data to justify their decision. I already knew this but this experience was the purest example of the principal I had ever seen!
I’m pretty sure that guy had never read a single sales book or attended a single sales training. He didn’t need to; he was a natural. He just naturally connected emotionally, and offered his ideas with enthusiasm and sincerity. I never for a moment felt like I was being “sold.” He defined the very essence of what selling should be and that experience changed me forever.
Onward & Upward
Ben