The Top Five Sales Myths
As someone who has been in sales for over 24 years, and now as a sales trainer, speaker and coach, I
continually hear debate over the following five sales myths. In this article I will expose and throw light
on these top sales fairy tales.
<strong>The Top Five Sales Myths Debunked</strong>
<strong>Sales Myth #1: Sales is <em>NOT</em> a numbers game.
</strong>The more people you talk to, the more business you will do, even a blind squirrel finds a nut
if it keeps looking. Granted, you want quality behind the numbers and, depending upon your business,
it may be helpful to do some research on the person you’re calling before you call. That said, in order to
be successful in sales you need lots of good solid relationships and the only way to get those
relationships is to go out and talk to lots of people. The bottom line is: if you talk to enough people
during the day, you will eventually run into someone who says, “I need what you have” or “I know
someone who needs what you have.” Know the number of people you need to talk to during the day in
order to be successful and then go out and talk to that many people and more.
<strong>Sales Myth #2: Cold calling is a waste of time and doesn’t work.
</strong>In over 24+ years I’ve built four different businesses primarily through cold calling. Cold
calling is simply the fastest, most pro-active way to get leads. The reality is: if you are new in business
or struggling, it’s more than likely you don’t have enough leads and you’re not getting enough through
networking, referrals, and other sources... Time to cold call. Yes, cold calling is the most difficult, most
time consuming task you can do, yet unless you have millions of dollars to spend on marketing
campaigns, cold calling yields results like no other prospecting method.
Also, cold calling builds character and keeps you grounded. The reality is: if you can cold call effectively
and with confidence, nothing will stop you, you will be able to do any other sales task you need to do in
order to be successful. That is why I recommend you never stop cold calling even when you are
extremely successful. Granted, you may only make one or two cold calls a week at that point, but this
will keep you sharp and on your toes.
<strong>Sales Myth #3: Friday afternoon is a bad time to call on prospects and clients.
</strong>Most salespeople believe that prospects either take Friday afternoons off or, if they do work,
that they don’t want to be bothered by salespeople at this time. This is simply not true. Not only do
most prospects work on Friday afternoons, they are also in a better mood at this time than at any other
time during the week. As a result, Friday afternoon is a great time to prospect and close business. In
addition, because most salespeople don’t make calls at this time, you will stand out as someone who is
dedicated and hard-working. The bottom line is: Friday afternoon is one of the best times to prospect
and close business.
<strong>Sales Myth #4: A good salesperson can sell ice to Eskimos.
</strong>The premise here is that a good salesperson could sell someone on something that is so
obviously not needed. Nothing could be further from the truth. Top salespeople, over the long haul,
don’t take advantage of people by selling them something they don’t need. Top salespeople make it all
about the other person and they always do what is best for them, even to the point of sending someone
to the competition on rare occasions.
That said, are their some “temporary” sales successes who take advantage of people and make lots of
sales by selling them items they don’t need? Yes. But in the long-term those people get caught, burn
out, find that their personal lives in shambles, or a combination of all of these. The bottom line is: you
can’t take advantage of people for long and live a happy, fulfilling, successful life. The top salespeople
are honest, have integrity, and focus completely on the other person. They only make the sale if it is a
win-win.
<strong>Sales Myth #5: The customer <em>ISN’T</em> always right.
</strong>Salespeople I’ve seen with this attitude seem to have a chip on their shoulder. It’s an attitude
of arrogance in which they seem to believe the customer should be privileged to be doing business
with them as opposed to the other way around. If you have a mindset that the customer isn’t always
right, chances are great that you will not go above and beyond, you will not do more than expected,
and you will not deliver top-notch, second-to-none follow-up and service after the sale.
If you do not do everything within your power to ensure the customer has a great experience, odds are
they will have a mediocre experience at best and you will never stand out. That said, is the customer
always right? No, but you’d better walk into that conversation convinced they are, or they will pick up
on your suspicion and indifference quickly and as opposed to running into that 1% of unreasonable
people, you’ll find the number closer to 50%.
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visit John's website at <a
href="http://www.completeselling.com/">http://www.completeselling.com</a>
&nbsp;
Have a sales question? E-mail John at <a
href="mailto:johnchapin@completeselling.com">johnchapin@completeselling.com</a> John Chapin’s
specialty is helping salespeople and sales teams double sales in 12 months. He is an award-winning
sales speaker, trainer and coach, a number one sales rep in three industries, and the primary author of
the gold-medal winning "Sales Encyclopedia". In his 24+ years of sales, customer service and
management experience, he has thrived in some of the toughest markets and economies.
For permission to reprint, or to reach John, email him at <a
href="http://www.completeselling.com/members/johnchapin@completeselling.com">johnchapin@c
ompleteselling.com</a>.