The Easiest Way To Sell To People… Without Actually Having To Sell

Few things are as annoying as a salesperson trying to sell you something you don’t want, don’t need and don’t even care for.

Don’t get me wrong - I’ve been selling for most of my adult life.

I love sales and can appreciate it when a salesperson is actually good at their job.

With that being said… I ABSOLUTELY understand why sales has that annoying, sleazy reputation.

It doesn’t have to be like this.

You can sell without being annoying, without being sleazy, without resorting to high-pressure guilt-tripping.

That’s what this article is all about!

How To Sell Without Being Annoying

When you watch movies like The Wolf of Wall Street, Boiler Room and Glengarry Glen Ross you get a feel for how to sell by being a manipulative sociopath.

This is a conversation from Boiler Room between a customer (C) and the salesman (S):

C: I have to talk to my wife first.

S: Ok, what kind of a job do you have?

C: I’m a purchasing manager.

S: So you make decisions at your job, right?

C: Yes, I do.

S: So do you call your wife before you make every decision?

C: Well, uhhhm, that’s a bit different.

S: How is that different? Besides, it’s YOUR money. You earned it. And you’re just investing, right?

Making comparisons that are as solid as a wet cardboard box, forcing people into a "yes funnel" so they agree with you, etcetera, etcetera...

It’s all classic stuff and… I’ve never really liked it.

If you think about it, it doesn’t even make sense.

If you sell a good product and the client can benefit from using it, why should you have to handle 110 objections?

And that’s the real secret.

Most people spend most of their time selling to the wrong people.

The Sales Cliché That Changed My Life

My first mentor gave me a one-liner that I’ll never forget:

"People love to buy, but they hate to be sold to."

He told me this after he looked over one of my sales presentations.

It was his way of saying the presentation was… not great.

(He used different words, but I’ll let you use your imagination to fill in the rest.)

I followed his advice and instead of trying to constantly pitch my stuff, I started to focus on asking questions, qualifying customers and figuring out if we were even a good fit.

If it looked like we weren’t a good fit I’d do something revolutionary.

I thanked them for their time and left them alone.

This did three things:

1) It saved me hours and hours and hours of time.

2) It saved me untold amounts of frustration, stress and tension.

3) And it allowed me to spend much more time talking to prospects that were a good match.

Selling is way easier if you come at it from this angle.

• Ask questions to find out what their problem is.

• Tell them what your solution could do for them.

• Ask if they want that.

Try it out for size. I think you’ll enjoy it a lot.

It sure beats manipulating people, using high-pressure sales tactics, twisting their arm and getting stuck in endless discussions.

Talk soon,

Pritesh Chauhan