What Sales Isn’t
Selling isn’t about tricks or how to hustle better, or how to get on your grind and crush it. There’s no “ultimate sales personality.” There aren’t any shortcuts. No silver bullets.
But there is one sales secret that’s worth knowing… that’s to be yourself.
Who do you buy from? You buy from people you trust. You buy the person first.
Most sellers are regular people. The great ones aren’t afraid to let their authentic selves shine through.
Close your eyes and imagine you're standing in front of a salesperson. What do you see? Pay attention to every word and detail.
Then, please watch this 2-minute excerpt from the movie Groundhog Day.
Does the salesperson you were imagining in your head behave like that?
When you think of sales and of selling, when you think of salespeople, are the Ned Ryersons of the world the ones who comes to mind?
Ned is an over-the-top parody of our worst nightmares, but pop culture holds up characters like Ned as an example of how salespeople actually behave. Glengarry Glen Ross does too. Makes it easy to think that only clueless slimeballs are cut out to be successful salespeople.
What's really going on in that video is that Ned’s sales skills absolutely, undeniably suck!
In 90 seconds, he makes about as many mistakes. I'll reference some of those mistakes in future lessons.
There’s no right or wrong way to sell. But there IS an “authentically you” way to sell. And there’s also a slick, salesy, manipulative way to sell. Needlenose Ned is definitely slick, DEFINTELY salesy, and comes off as untrustworthy too. He’s gross!
It’s time to start shifting your mindset around how and why salespeople succeed.
One objective of this course is to reveal your own personal sales superpowers, by showing you that skills and attributes you already have are useful tools in selling situations. We’re preparing you to sell for your organization from a place that is - authentically you.
I promise you, the objective of this course, IS NOT to turn you into a Ned Ryerson clone. And that’s a guarantee.
The One is your key to understanding why:
The core belief I operate from is something I call The One.
The One works like a mantra, keeping me focused on the most important thing when it comes to selling - solving their problem. It ensures that I’m always taking the best possible care and addressing the needs of the people who know me, trust me, and like me.
The One goes like this:
I help my leads, prospects, and clients make the best possible purchase decisions.
The One makes it very unlikely that I'll find myself selling from a slick, dishonest, or self-serving place.
Powerful stuff.
And what you're going to learn from the rest of this course is so powerful, so effective, that it could easily be misused by slick, shady salespeople.
I don’t want to hear that someone took this course, learned how to sell better and is selling snake oil, or cigarettes to teenagers. Or worse.
So before going any further, I’m going to ask you to sign an agreement that describes your new sales philosophy.
Your signature says that you give your word that the tools and skills and superpowers and everything you learn in this course and the rest of the SellWell Learning Platform will be used only to make the world a better place.
With that in mind - please download, print, review and sign this document – and continue to use your emerging sales superpowers only for good.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for making this commitment.
And going forward, I’ll stop using the terms “salesperson” and “salespeople” and call us “sellers” instead. Salespeople sell with their own needs in mind. Sellers sell with their buyer's needs in mind.
Thank you for inviting me to be part of your selling adventure.