Robin P. Zander Snafu

Category: Sales

The attitude required for sales

In my early twenties, I ran a business working with children with autism.

Autistic kids often lack the social standards that we take for granted. They rely on their felt-sense of those around them – their intuitive feel for the attitudes held by others – in place of social niceties.

We all sense other people’s attitudes, whether we realize it or not. And these attitudes shape how we behave.

The same attitude that I learned working with special needs kids is useful in persuasion. You can sell a car through pressure and pushiness; I can motivate a child through judgment and shame. But it is more effective to show up loving, curious, and present, and invite towards what you want from there.

About the attitude

An inviting attitude is more effective than one that is demanding and judgmental.

This is the same attitude that great parents have with their kids, great leaders have with their teams, and great salespeople have with their clients. It has three parts:

Loving

Successful selling starts with generosity.

When you show up compassionate and loving, you are more compelling and better able to foster connection.

This loving attitude provides your prospective client the rare opportunity to see themself, and their situation, with love and compassion. It builds rapport.

So, before you try to sell your product or persuade someone of your belief, take a moment to connect with them.

Presence

In working with kids with autism, the first skill I learned to practice was presence – following them into their world, instead of insisting that they join my own.

And this ability, to be present with yourself or someone else, is equally valuable in sales.

You won’t be 100% present. But when you get distracted, returning to your client, and the connection you’re building.

Acceptance

Acceptance is often the most difficult part of a successful attitude in sales. As salespeople, we get attached to the outcome of a successful sale.

But when you don’t judge the decisions of the person that you are selling to – when you only want what is best for them – you create an environment where things are more likely to go your way.

Your presence closes deals

How you show up with a prospective customer will determine whether they buy.

Maintaining an attitude of enthusiasm, and not desperation. Keep your buyer’s best interest at heart and you have a much better chance of having things go your way.

Homework

Without prying, find out three personal details about your local barista.

Show up with interest and enthusiasm for who they are. Ask how long they’ve been working at the cafe. Find out what they’re aspirations are. Are they saving? Are they in school? Do they want to own their own cafe, someday?

Get to know them and find out personal details. If you’re uncomfortable asking, all the better. Practice the attitude.

In order to do that you’ll have to be curious, present, and non-judgmental.

Until next week,
Robin

How to practice cold calling

Two friends of mine recently started a new business, which we’re affectionately calling BookBook.

It is a digital platform that allows users to display their favorite books.

The platform would display the spines of books, just like I do on my physical bookshelves. And the collections would only feature collections of books, like my favorite cookbooks or a list of what Tyler Cowen calls quake books.

Sourcing book spines turns out to be quite difficult. So I set out to phone book publishers in the attempt to find book spine designs for this project!

I took on this task of cold calling publishers because I love books, my friends are starting a company and I wanted to help. Really, though, I undertook this project to practice making cold calls.

Here are a few things I learned that will make your next cold calls easier.

Outline your pitch

The first step was to decide on my sales pitch.

I sat down with my friends and asked each of them to sell me on their startup. I recorded the audio of their sales pitches and took copious notes.

Then, I pitched my own version and asked for feedback.

We went back and forth like this until I had a rough script and was prepared to answer a variety of questions.

Outlining your pitch shouldn’t be complicated. Decide what you are going to ask for and write a rough script. Bullet points are fine! Consider getting some feedback

Then move on to the next step.

Set a deadline

Practice enough that you are ready to deliver your pitch, but don’t let practice get in the way of actually getting started.

Don’t use preparation as a form of resistance. And don’t forget Parkinson’s Law – work will expand to fill the time allotted for its completion.

I scheduled a day when I would start actually calling publishers. That deadline gave me a concrete window in which to practice.

Set a deadline and give yourself a limited amount of time to prepare.

Rehearse your pitch

My next step was to rehearse my pitch.

I booked time in my calendar, because, for me, if something isn’t in my calendar it doesn’t happen.

During those rehearsals, I reviewed my notes and recorded a voice memo of my new pitch. Then I listened back, took notes and tried it again.

Hard things often take less deliberate practice than we think. But you do have to show up and do the work!

Make some calls

The final, and most critical step, was to actually start calling publishers.

On the day I had set aside, I Googled book publisher phone numbers and called all six of the big book publishers.

It would have been more effective to locate phone numbers in advance, but fortunately book publishers are easily available online.

This is the most critical step, because without actually putting in this practice, outlining your pitch, deadlines, and rehearsal don’t have much impact!

Outcome

In talking to representatives at all the big publishing houses, I learned that book spines are even harder to source than I’d thought!

So while I haven’t yet gotten access to book spines, I’m grateful to have taken on this small sales project as practice.

As people who have something to sell, we all want to be more comfortable talking to strangers. Likely the reason you don’t ask more often is that discomfort and your fear of rejection.

And the best way to overcome that discomfort is to practice.

Most of us are uncomfortable asking strangers for things. But through this project, I put in the practice and took an incremental step.

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Homework

Cold calling is one of the scariest things most people do. But that’s because the steps are too big.

Get comfortable doing the uncomfortable thing when the stakes are low.

Today, pick up your phone and call one person spontaneously. Most people don’t use their phones for phone calls, so maybe that’s enough of a stretch.

If you do talk to people by phone, phone someone you don’t speak to regularly.

See if you can stretch beyond your comfort and phone when you’d ordinarily text, or to contact somebody you don’t normally talk to.

All the practice and rehearsal doesn’t matter if you never pick up the phone and call, so just get started.

Until next week,
Robin

The difference between marketing and sales

I taught a workshop a few weeks ago for a handful of entrepreneurs who wanted to get better at selling.

I asked attendees what they thought of when they heard the word “salesman.” I expected answers like used car salesmen and telemarketers, but instead attendees described the challenges of creating social media content.

I realized that most people don’t have a clear distinction between marketing and sales.

Marketing and sales both require:

Selling adds a few crucial steps including asking, “Would you like to buy my thing?”

What is marketing?

Marketing is storytelling. It is the stories we tell each other and about ourselves, which inspire toward a desired outcome.

When I was ten years old, my Dad and I read The Odyssey aloud together. The book was written two thousand years ago. Nonetheless, I vicariously experienced Odysseus’ ten-year journey home from the Trojan Way.

Marketing is using the story of Odysseus’ bravery, loyalty and pride to inspire the next generation to stand up for what they believe in and to lead.

Marketing consists of telling stories that are:

Marketing is the stories we tell about our work, or tell each other about the world around us.

What is sales?

The ask is the primary difference between marketing and sales.

Selling is attempting to persuade somebody to adopt a belief, asking to change their behavior, or inviting them to buy. Even the “Buy now” button at the end of an ad moves it into the category of sales.

Effective sales incorporates an ask after first delivering a story that is personal, relatable and inspiring.

After we finished reading The Odyssey together, my father asked if I’d like to run cross country. I’ve been an athlete, gymnast and runner ever since.

Good selling is about making an ask. Great selling is about making an ask that you’ve prepared for by telling a compelling story that pulls on emotions, aligns incentives, helps the other person become more of who they want to be.

Homework

What’s one thing you’re trying to sell?

Before you pitch, what’s a story that inspires the other person to become more of who they want to be?

Write out a couple of sentences about:

  1. What you have to sell.
  2. What you are selling will help your audience become more of who they want to be.
  3. A story that bridges that gap.

Send me an email with your answer to these questions!

Until next week,
Robin

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