Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

It's Only Common Sense: It’s Not About Selling; It’s About Buying

I just finished reading Jeffrey Gitomer’s Sales Manifesto: Imperative Actions You Need to Take and Master to Dominate Your Competition and Win for Yourself...For the Next Decade, and I loved it. In fact, I was so inspired by the book that I read it twice. Not only that, I just ordered a box full of copies to give out to some of my clients’ salespeople.

This little red book is so powerful that I would urge all of you, not just salespeople, to buy it on Amazon immediately. And while you’re at it, pick up all of Jeffrey’s books. They are not that expensive (about $20), they are not that large (that’s a good thing), and they are so full of strong and powerful advice that you are going to want to read it with pen and notebook by your side. And no, I am not Gitomer’s agent or his cousin. I don’t know the man, except through his books, but I wish I did; you will too once you read his book.

Okay, I think that’s enough of a buildup. Now on to some of the more pertinent highlights from the book. Here is a list of eleven of his ideas on selling (the quotes are from Gitomer, and the follow-up descriptions are from me).

1. “It’s no longer about selling; it’s all about the customer buying.”

Nobody likes to be sold to, but they love to buy. You have to make your product so valuable and interesting that people want to buy it.

2. “It’s no longer about scripts; it’s all about customized and personalized presentations.”

You have to take your story and merge it into the customers’. Get the customer to imagine what their life would be like if they were using your product or service.

3. “It’s no longer about a presentation; it’s all about your performance.”

What do you do when you’re a captive audience to a PowerPoint presentation? I know what I do; I start trying to figure out how many slides there are in the deck and how long it is going to take. But if the presentation is about me, my company, and my specific needs, now I’m interested!

4. “It’s no longer about cold-calling; it’s all about relationships and referrals.”

Think about it; how many sales do you make from cold calling? Oh, you’ll make a few maybe one or two out of 100 calls. Now think about how many sales you close when the potential customer calls you. All of them, right? At that point, the sale is yours to lose. But of course, you and your services and products have to be great for someone to refer you to a customer, which is the way it should be.

5. “It’s no longer a sales pitch; it’s all about helping the customer win.”

Amen! It is all about the customer. They do not care about your product until they realize how much this product can help them and make their life easier and better.

6. “It’s no longer about being a great salesperson; it’s all about becoming a trusted advisor.”

People buy from people they trust, and no one ever trusted a fast-talking salesperson with a perfectly memorized pitch. Nobody wants to buy from the “Saladmaster” man anymore. If you’re under 30, Google “Saladmaster.”

7. “It’s no longer about you calling the customer; it’s all about the customer calling you.”

Think of how good you have to be for a customer to call you. Think of all of the social media posts and valuable content you have to put out for that to happen, and then make sure you’re doing all of that stuff so that it will happen.

8. “It’s no longer about you Googling the customer; it’s all about the customer Googling you.”

Once again, you have to be good. You have to post and publish valuable content in the right places to have that happen.

9. “It’s no longer about brochures; it’s all about blogging and posting real stories.”

Get to it now. You are your own ad agency. It’s the content you put out on the right social media platforms that is going to get you noticed.

10. “It’s no longer about who you know; it’s all about who knows you.”

Make sure people know you, and the only way to do that is to be visible.

11. “It’s no longer about cold-calling; it’s all about LinkedIn.”

Anybody who is anybody is on Linkedin. It has never been easier to get in touch with anyone. It’s up to you to take it seriously and learn how to use LinkedIn properly. Then, you will be able to connect with exactly the right people. You can no longer ignore this super powerful connection tool.

Conclusion

Pretty good stuff, right? And this is from only one chapter of the book. If you are serious about your sales or business career, buy this book and read and study it. Even more, you should be reading a book like Sales Manifesto at a rate of one a week.

It’s only common sense.

Dan Beaulieu is president of D.B. Management Group.