Is Selling The Same as Persuasion – Part I?

Did you ever buy a new car and then suddenly notice how many people on the road own your same make and model?

I was asked, in question form, the title of this posting during an interview recently and suddenly, I see the topic popping up everywhere on blogs and LinkedIn groups. So I thought I would add a nickel to the thought reservoir on this topic since my earlier “two cents” during the interview apparently was not enough to get the job. I am, after all, still writing this blog. Perhaps my “nickel of thought” will provoke a “dime of thought” from you!

Before engaging in a game of semantics, I consulted my trusty source of definitions on the web, Dictionary.com. The results were not inspiring. I sought out the verb definition of selling and persuasion, i.e. “to sell” and “to persuade”. Here is what I found:

To sell:
“A recommendation to sell a particular security.
The process of liquidating an asset in exchange for money.”

To persuade:
“To prevail on (a person) to do something, as by advising or urging: We could not persuade him to wait.
To induce to believe by appealing to reason or understanding; convince: to persuade the judge of the prisoner's innocence”.

Yecchhh. These definitions leave a Sales Pro wanting much more and feeling cheap. So it is natural then, to rest our response to such a question on the “art and science of selling”, the very premise of this blog!

So come back next time to “Part II” when I suggest that selling is sometimes persuasion, but persuasion is never selling.

"Sales and Service – Do They Mix? – Top Five Reasons Why"

There are certain things in corporate life that don’t mix well with Sales. Like Sales and Finance. Always seems to be a conflict there, i.e. “Why are you discounting the price?” Or Sales and Manufacturing, i.e. “Why did you sell it before we made it?” Or, my favorite, Sales and Marketing, “We paid for that lead, why can’t you convert on it?” While some might view this as conflict across the functional disciplines, I view this “conflict” as a healthy check and balance system for the corporate entity. It works if managed well by the senior leadership team. But what about the idea of Sales and Service? Are the two mutually exclusive? Should they compete with one another? Are they different disciplines?

My premise is this: Sales Pro’s should always be servicing, and Service Pro’s should always be selling. Dictionary.com defines Service as: an act of helpful activity; help; aid: to do someone a service. You are a Sales Pro, so you know how to define Sales. Can these skill sets be combined? I say they must. Here’s why:

1. Both Sales and Service Pro’s work with clients who have a need. No matter who we are, it is our job to fulfill it.

2. Prospects need to be assured that they will be serviced after the sale and judge that criteria based on their perceived level of service during the sales process.

3. Service Pro’s get the opportunity to engage with clients at a time of self-proclaimed need. After that need is satisfied, an opportunity presents itself to open up the conversation to uncover other hidden needs for an up-sell or cross-sell opportunity.

4. Sales Pro’s present and sell a solution that fulfills a need – is this not Service?

5. Interaction with a customer and/or prospect is a precious commodity. Sales and Service Pro’s are pressed up against the client or prospect and gain these interactions. Whether this interaction is for a sales or service purpose, it presents a wonderful opportunity to broaden the relationship. Take advantage!

I recently called my cable company for problems with a router. While they were quick to offer suggestions for a fix, they never asked me whether I was enjoying my experience with their offering. Like you, I receive marketing materials from them all of the time, only to toss them into the trash can or delete file on email. I am quite sure there are a couple of other channels out there that I have not heard of that I might enjoy, if only I had the benefit of a conversation. A lost opportunity for this provider!

"Discounts and Buyer Behavior - Where's The Logic?"

Everybody wants a deal. Even if the client is dead set on your product or service, you may very well have to provide a perceived price concession just to seal the deal. As a sales pro, you’ve been there before, haven’t you? Well here’s my question: when it comes to comparing costs and gaining price concessions, why does the buyer often favor the cost and/or concession when it is framed as a “discount” even though your effective price, after the discount, may still be higher than your competitor’s?

I have run into many situations where when it was time to consider price, the buyer compared only the discounts, not the list price or rack rate with the discount. Doesn’t it make perfect sense to do the latter and is it not foolish to do only the former? Look at marketing collateral everywhere – “discount!”, “discount!”, “discount!” is sometimes all that is printed. Why is the buyer in love with discounts, and not actual prices? I don’t get it.

I even try to put myself in the buyer’s shoes, I am one from time to time, and I still cannot develop the love affair with the discount in my choice of products and services. But it is always there! Back in my sales shoes, I experimented once and left discounts out of the cost page of my proposals and showed only actual pricing. I wanted to be simple and direct with my prospects in the belief that such an approach would improve my success. My win rate declined. Lesson learned there: always show your costs as a discount to something! And be prepared to bump the discount up a few points just to seal the deal. Everybody wants a deal.

In a perfect world, us sales pro’s would always be selling value and our buyers would always be buying value, thereby negating the need to spend much time on pricing and discounts. But it’s always there to consider. I just simply marvel over the attention a discount gets above and beyond that for the effective net price. Everybody wants a deal – “hey, I just got 30% off!” “Off of WHAT?!” I ask!!