For my last blog post, I would like to reflect on some of the things I have learned. Even though I had sold before, I definitely did not know everything about selling. While I still do not know everything, I have learned a lot during this class. I had a general idea about some of these things, but I was somewhat surprised by others. Here are a few things that I learned this semester:
1. We are all salesmen
Before this class, I had not given this much thought. Pink makes some convincing arguments about why everyone is a salesman in some regard. We learned about elasticity and non-sales selling which relates to this.
2. The Sandler Rules
We learned many rules regarding selling. I won’t list all of them here but some of the ones that I did not know or surprised me: Rule 38: the problem the prospect brings you is never the real problem. This one talks about digging deeper and getting to the real issue that the customer has. Rule 31: close the sale or close the file. This one talks about “going for no” and how that can be a good thing. Sometimes a “no” is better than a “maybe.”
3. Attunement
Attunement is a good concept to apply in everyday life as well as sales. Attunement has three main points to it: 1) Increase your power by reducing it 2) Use your head as much as your heart 3) mimic strategically. These are all helpful for relating to people, whether they are potential customers or just your friends.
I am sure we have all learned a lot through this class. It has been a great semester with all of you!
Pete I completely agree! The one Sandler rule about “going for no” is a real neat idea. I never thought about going straight for no. When your talking to someone about a sales opportunity, the last thing you would want is a no. You want them to say yes but I didn’t realize how asking for “no” is a good strategy. I will definitely be using that tactic when I go into Sales.
I also found it eye-opening when we talked about how everyone is a salesman. I’ve recently been wondering if the mass customization/personalization craze has anything to do with that as well. Since you can now put your own personal twist (at an affordable price) on everything from your Chipotle burrito to the skin you stuck on your laptop freshman year to your iPhone case to your clothing, it’s so easy for everyone to create and market their own brand of themselves…