Sales is not a zero-sum game. It’s not a game where one side wins at the expense of the other.
In fact, it’s the exact opposite of a zero-sum game.
The only way a seller can end up better off is by making the prospect better off, since the prospect’s consent is required to genuinely move forward at every step in the exchange.
The seller can’t use force, fiat, or fraud to squeeze money from an unwilling prospect. They must get the prospect's consent and cooperation to the exchange, or the exchange doesn’t happen.
➡️ Friends, this is a noble skill. It is a necessary skill. It takes patience and practice. ⬅️
I’m aware that young people don’t want to sell. They don’t want to be salesy; they don't want to manipulate people, they don't want to be fake.
I don’t blame them. I grew up immersed in sales and the sales-training industry. I know the salesperson stereotypes, the slimy sales tactics, and the sleazy used-car-lot tricks. I avoided it all for years.
But I came back -- not because I want to sell (only about 3% of the workforce does!) but because I passionately believe that sales is, at its core, an honorable and noble profession.
Selling is the skill of consensual cooperation -- something that this world desperately needs.
💎 It requires interacting with nuance and humility.
💎 It respects the autonomy of the other human being in the exchange.
💎It makes both parties better off, or there's no exchange.
If your prospect doesn’t buy what you’re selling, you can’t lock them up (you’re not the law); you can’t confiscate their stuff (you're not the IRS); and you can’t go break their kneecaps (you're not the mafia).
In order to get their money (or even move toward a conversation to discuss any kind of exchange where you will eventually get their money), you need their consent AND their cooperation – and your only available tactic is to offer something that makes them better off than they were before, at every step of the way.
The art of sales is the art of consensual cooperation.
The beautiful, difficult, painstaking, and necessary art of consensual cooperation.
Anything other than that isn’t sales.
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✨ Thank you for stopping by! Glad to have you here. ✨
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