Your career, your company and your cash-at-bank rely on the new face of selling…

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There’s a new face in selling.

A new (common sense) view of sales now determines your success, the success of all your colleagues and the success of your business too.

No more is selling the exclusive remit of the ‘sales person’.

According to statistics, in the UK 10 of every 100 workers are directly involved in selling - sales people.

Across the EU it’s 13/100 and in the USA 9 of every 100.

Teachers are selling the merit of homework, managers are selling the merit of getting work priorities done.

So, 10% of people are selling as a traditional sales job, the remaining 90% are largely involved in selling ideas, concepts and desires.

Plus, the research suggests that nearly everyone considers non-sales selling to be crucial to their success.

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The old world is dying…

The old view of slippery shark-like sales people making dodgy deals is long gone.

The internet and social media now means any such ‘sharp’ dealings will be soon found out and news of it will spread like wildfire.

Trust is now the new currency of the sales person – whether you’re employed to sell or just sell as part of your non-sales role.

Who needs sales people?

Atlassian builds large ‘enterprise software’ for the likes of Microsoft, Samsung and the United Nations.

The software helps manage large projects, tracks progress and fosters collaboration among employees.

For Atlassian the new face of selling is not a sales person at all.

Here’s their CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes:

$110m of sales without a sales person.

So, what do people in sales (or non-sales selling) do to avoid irrelevance and deliver value?

The new world of selling

Before the internet, buyers needed sales people for information and help to solve the buyer’s problem.

But the internet now allows information equality.

Sales people no longer wield the power of knowledge.

We can all now easily and quickly educate ourselves about the best computer or best hotel without the help of a sales person or travel agent.

Your customers do the same for your products and services.

What exactly is non-sales selling?

Persuasion. Influence. Encouraging learning and new behaviours.

Everyone is selling something every day.

Parents sell their kids on going to bed.

Spouses sell their partners on mowing the lawn or buying better wine at the shop.

And aren’t Facebook, Twitter and Instagram simply platforms for selling yourself?

And if we all think it’s crucial in all our jobs, as the research suggests, then we will all benefit from improving our non-sales selling skills.

Starting with the ABC of selling…

The new ABC of selling

Daniel Pink in his research-based and yet easy-to-read book ‘To Sell Is Human’ lays out a formula for success.

The tarnished, shark-like, 20th century view of sales people was typically linked with double-glazing or used cars.

Back then the famous acronym ‘ABC’ stood for ‘Always Be Closing’.

The new face of selling relies on a new ‘ABC’ – Attunement, Buoyancy and Clarity.

Time to tune into the centre!

Pink summarises attunement: “…step outside [our] own experience and imagine the emotions, perceptions, and motivations of another”.

Thirty-five studies of more than 3,500 sales people showed that being an extrovert did not make you a better sales person – the evidence suggests extroverts are not the winners at sales.

One USA university study tracked several hundred sales people’s average results over several months:

- Extroverts sold $125 per hour
- Introverts sold $120 per hour

A third group sold 25% more:
- Ambiverts sold $155 per hour

Click the downloadable tools at the bottom of this page to see the full study and see the graph showing how ambiverts are the best at selling.

Ambivert?

In his book, Pink calls these people the “Goldilocks personalities” – not too hot (extrovert) and not too cold (introvert).

“Extroverts... can fail to strike the proper balance between asserting and
holding back, which can be read as pushy and drive people away.”

“Introverts have their own, often reverse, challenges. They can be too shy to initiate and too timid to close.”

The solution, from the research?

“…to emulate those in the centre.”

Ambiverts are more successful because they are better at tuning into the feelings of others whilst retaining a logical perspective.

Rob Byron/Shutterstock

Power dents your success...

To tune into the feelings of others, Pink’s studies suggest you start your sales encounters with the assumption that you’re in a lower position of power:
“… [Lower power] will help you see the other side’s perspective more accurately”

Be a subtle mimic...

 Like Pink says, being a mimic: “...serves as a social glue and a sign of
trust.”

But you must be a natural and subtle mimic to be good at non-sales selling.

Check out the downloadable tools at the end of this Business Breakthrough to try an exercise that proves how the loss of power helps the sale and how mimicking your buyer can bring success (when done subtly).

Your buoyancy rating?

You’re pretty much guaranteed some teenage-like-eye-rolling when you  
promoting the idea of a positive mental attitude (PMA)!

Your buoyancy rating (BR) is measured by the number of positive messages compared to the number of negative messages you express.

Pink quotes a study clearly showing the most successful buoyancy rating is between 3:1 and 11:1.

This is important because research shows that a positive tone is twice as likely to result in a successful agreement than a negative one – even when the terms are identical.

Use the way you talk to yourself in a way that means you express at least three times more positive messages than negative ones – but don’t overdo it beyond 11:1 (says the research) because:

“...unchecked levity leaves you flighty, ungrounded, and unreal.”

Beware: Paul McKenna and Tony Robbins are wrong...

Simply telling yourself you can do it, as Paul and Tony suggest (both are world renowned advocates of PMA) doesn’t work, or so says the social science.

Bob the Builder on the other hand has more to offer when seeking buoyancy above 3:1:

“Can we fix it? Yes, we can!”

Positive self-talk works better when it’s ‘self-questioning’ rather than ‘self affirming’.

Start asking yourself questions.

You then stimulate self-talk about the ways and means of achieving what you want – the science suggests this is far more productive than sugar-coated, over-inflated statements about your general awesomeness!

And when you start thinking and commentating on the results you achieve, what do you say?

If you say anything like: “I never fail to mess up every conversation with my boss”

…this language undermines your buoyancy ratio.

Stop using the 3Ps – Permanence (never fail) – Pervasive (every conversation) – Personal (I).

Instead, it pays to alter your language when reviewing results and be ‘temporary’ not permanent (sometimes), use ‘specific’ for pervasive (this time) and seek ways to acknowledge the contribution of others to the failure (not just you). 

Remember: “Optimism, it turns out, isn’t hollow sentiment. It’s a catalyst that can stir persistence, steady us during challenges, and stoke the confidence that we can influence our surroundings.”

Check out the additional downloadable tools at the end of this report for more ways to help you and your team build your non-sales selling skills.

TIME TO DISAGREE

Your New Face of Selling  'Make It Happen' checklist:

Daniel Pink has brilliantly pulled together research that points to the natural way of selling because, as the title of his book states so clearly, ‘To Sell Is Human’.

Selling is no longer the domain of sharp-suited, sharp-practicing, so-called professionals.

The research shows that 41% of our working (waking) lives have us selling ideas, next steps, learning, homework etc to colleagues, friends and family.

And when asked, people suggest such non-sales selling skills are crucial to their success.

Here are four ways to improve your non-sales selling skills:

Want to know more?