For a long time now there has generally been a negative connotation around salesmen. Most of the time they are thought to be rude and pushy. Today, sales has evolved into more non-sales selling, creating less of a dislike for salesmen. I think almost everybody has experienced an on foot salesmen, whether it was a good experience or a bad one. Nowadays salesmen try to steer away from the loud, pushy, sales minded salesmen.
Salesmen have a negative connotation due to their inability to listen, lying, and failure to understand customers and prospects needs. One of the biggest traits of a good salesmen is their ability to listen. Salesmen must listen to the needs of their prospects and listen to what they are saying. Salesmen’s failure to listen and understand their customers needs may result in the loss of a sale. Lying salesmen also turn off customers and prospects because obviously nobody likes to be lied to. Salesmen will do anything to push a sale, including lying. This behavior includes overstating the capabilities of their product, stretching the truth or giving people the wrong information. Last, customers like to be heard and listened to. When sales reps talk too much and listen too little, they don’t get a full understanding of their prospect’s situation. This could also result in the loss of a sale. Overall, sales reps should change their tactics and efforts to be better listeners and learn how to solve the needs of the customers.
Salesmen have been trying to change to more non-sales selling and become more of the silent salesmen. They are learning to listen to the needs of the customer rather than push a sale and make a transaction no matter what. Overall, salesmen are working to shift away from the negative connotation associated with their position.
Information from http://www.b2bsalesboost.com/pdf/why-customers-hate-sales-people.pdf
BoweryJE22
Yes, the sales people of America are learning how to learn about the customer before they enter into a sales relationship. They are getting into a short lived friendship to get to know if the person even would want their product.
I do believe the way salesmen approach their selling has changed due to the fact that they end up chasing off the people they’re trying to sell to. I think a lot of people in our generation have not experienced the “typical salesman”, which I think is really cool. The sales tactics have changed so much even within the past decade.