How to “sell”?

This week I’ve been to Dublin to give a presentation to the company I’m leaving about the work I’ve been doing.

Over the past 18 months, I’ve gone from 0 to “something” in sales and so we felt it would good to share the important things I’ve learned. 

I’m generally quite introverted (not your “natural salesperson”) and so have found the past year and a half very interesting in how applying certain principles, but also “being yourself” can still lead to being good at sales, despite not being the Hollywood version of a salesman.

The approach I’ve taken is broadly captured in the book To Sell Is Human.

I’d say most people would find it a good read in full through the type-it-on-my-phone-on-the-flight-back summary is as follows:

“We’re all in sales now”

It used to be a dirty word, but if you reframe sales as the ability to persuade and move people then that’s, more than ever, what people are required to do.

Rather than feeling greasy at the idea of “selling”, an interest/ acknowledgment in how to do it right will be good for everyone.

The author highlights the best traits as an ABC.

Attunement

Getting “in sync” with the person you’re interacting means you and they feel understood. This is where being introverted can be useful.

Buoyancy

Essentially taking a stoic attitude to what you do. The highs don’t get you too high, nor the lows too low.

Clarity

Making things clear for the other person and helping them reach a decision.

None of the rest of the company work in sales, and so at the beginning, there was some sense that a presentation on selling wasn’t going to be relevant to them. 

Once it was established though that whilst some aspects are specific to selling the service we offer, essentially any time you ask anyone to do something you need to “sell them” to do it, the concepts stuck.

Often people do a lot of these things subconsciously, though every once in a while it can be useful to read an overview and refresh.

In other news…

I touched down in the UK last weekend and was straight into a schedule of verdant dog walks back “home home”.

We traveled up to my cousin’s wedding in the north of England on a Monday, with a confluence of family members of all ages either sipping drinks and catching up, or racing around the grassy areas and climbing trees.

I’m now down in London finishing up some work things and seeing people during evenings and weekends.