As we continue to talk about selling in class, I’m realizing how different it is to how I would have thought about sales at the beginning of the semester. Sales is much more relational than I ever thought it was, even though it makes complete sense. But where did my previous perception of selling come from?
I think the culprit is advertising.
If you think “pushy salesman” and then you think “advertisement”, you get about the same vibe. They’re both trying to sell you something, whether you want it or not, by shoving features down your throat without any room for you to talk.
Okay, not all ads do this…but a lot of them do. The difference between sales and advertising is the relational aspect. In sales, we’re learning about having conversations with a prospect—letting them do the talking and helping to identify a problem. Ads can’t do this. There’s no way for them to have a dialogue with their prospects; it’s just show-and-tell.
I’m even thinking about this when writing emails. Am I really “selling” myself or an idea if I don’t yet have dialogue? I don’t believe so. Can an ad make a sale? Sure! But, it’s not through the conversational sales process that we are learning.
So what I’m taking from this is that the fundamental difference between sales and advertising is dialogue. If you’re show-and-telling to a prospect, you’re advertising. But if you’re having a conversation with a prospect, that’s selling.
RMcIlwain
This is a valid statement. As time has moved forward there’s many different observations i have made as well in consideration of how and what to do in order to be a quality salesman. The requirements in order to use the pian funnel correctly and gain valuable answers from consumers have become more obvious and understandable with these aspects as well.