This episode is part of a 12 days of Christmas read-along of the Selling Like We’re Human book, recorded in 2021.
The book follows a similar concept to what you’re already used to here on the Humane Marketing show with the 7Ps of Humane Marketing and the Marketing Like We’re Human book: we start with the being and then go into the doing.
The 3 parts of the Selling Like We’re Human book are : Being, Knowing and Doing (compared to Rumble, Rise and Resonate of the Marketing Like We’re Human book)
Today I’m reading a small section of Part 2 on KNOWING, Chapter 7 called ‘Manage Your Sales Energy’
"Sales conversations with the right people at the right time = sales :-)" -Sarah Santacroce @sarahsantacroce #humanemarketing #sellinglikewerehuman Click To TweetExcerpt from Selling Like We’re Human, Part 2: KNOWING, Chapter 7: Manage Your Sales Energy
I’m in the middle of cooking dinner, a veggie stir-fry, when my phone rings.
I don’t know about you, but my friends never call around that time. Sure, we
often chat over WhatsApp to check in on each other, but we never call. So I
immediately cringe because I intuitively know it’s a telemarketing call. I pick
up, and sure enough, after a quick “hello,” he fires his first question at me:
“Madam, do you prefer red or white wine?” I politely thank him and say that
I’m not interested in taking part in his survey, wish him a nice evening, and
hang up.
I don’t get upset at him. He’s just doing his job.
But I am amazed that these calls still happen in 2021!!
I’m not sure if in this particular case he actually wanted to sell me red or white
wine; it might have indeed just been a survey. But the point is that
telemarketing is still alive. There are still companies who invest money in it
because they work with the old sales model based on quantity: the more sales
calls you make, the more you sell. And from what I’ve read, there’s no end in
sight for these annoying interruptions. In fact, they might get even more
disturbing as telemarketers get access to more data and will rely on AI to make
the calls more customized to their “targets.” Imagine the following scenario:
“Good evening, Ms. Santacroce. I trust you’re well. Does your husband enjoy
his new Weber barbeque? Making some ribs tonight? And you’re in charge of
salads, am I right? Well, I’m reaching out because we have a sale right now on
our latest model of the Magicmix. Because after all, you can’t eat grilled meat
every night, right?”
I’m of course exaggerating and using gender assumptions!
So yes, unfortunately, telemarketing shows no signs of exiting the scene
anytime soon.
But luckily we don’t have to rely on call centers to sell our services.
Furthermore, I suggest that we forget the whole “more is better” approach.
It’s just not true that you always sell more if you make more sales calls.
Here are two examples of what I’m thinking:
When I asked Emma-Louise, business and mindset coach, to share about her
100 percent close rate on my podcast, she replied:
“For full disclosure, I no longer have my 100 percent close rate. I
actually had three people say no in a week recently! However this
was partly due to my coach encouraging me to get on calls even if
they weren’t ideal clients (so I knew it was unlikely two of them
would invest based on their stage in business).”
I’d say that confirms that talking to the right clients, at the right time is what
matters. If you’re going after a 100% close rate (and I’m not suggesting you
should), then just increasing the number of people you’re talking to is not
necessarily going to get you there.
Lynn Dutrow, an advisor, mentor and coach, shared the following experience
with me:
“As a counselor, selling can feel slimy, especially if you haven’t done
your work around your money story. It is also easy as a ‘helper’ to
function from two false assumptions: 1) you want to help
‘everyone’ and 2) a butt in the seat (and getting paid) is better than
an empty seat.
One client who helped me with this was a particularly complex client
that my intuition had told me was not a good fit for my skill set. As we
neared the end of our complimentary session, she wanted to keep
talking past our end time. While this was earlier in my career, I had
already managed to learn how to have boundaries around keeping time
in session so I changed my hat from clinician to business owner in
order to schedule another session (I still thought being ‘nice’ was more
important than being honest about us not being a good fit).
The client took offense to my businesslike manner and accused me
of being more concerned with making money than helping her.
While uncomfortable, I had a ‘light bulb’ moment and took the
opportunity to share with her that helping people is my job and
that with any job, there is a necessary structure (session time) and
an exchange of money for services rendered. I also admitted that I
thought we were not a good fit and gave her the names of three
other potential counselors. That’s when I made note that it was
time to let those two assumptions go!”
Saying no when you’re not a good fit takes courage but it will be so worth it
in the long term. Again, it’s not about the quantity but about the quality.
On the other hand, Cathy, a participant of the Gentle Sales Lab wrote:
“I’ve realized through our discussions that I’m not so bad on the
sales side, as my sign-up rate is very good when I do actually speak
to someone. The problem is I don’t speak to that many people!”
So what these two reactions tell us is that:
- Talking to more people doesn’t always mean more sales
- Talking to the wrong people = no sales 🙁
- No sales conversations = no sales 🙁
- Sales conversations with the right people at the right time = sales 🙂
Doing More Doesn’t Always Get Us More
In this chapter, we talk about protecting your energy with healthy
boundaries and not following my example of the overgiving burnout, where
I spent my day talking to people without making sales. And in case you’re
thinking, “I’d actually rather avoid sales calls altogether,” stay tuned and be
ready to be surprised by the complete reframe of the traditional sales call in
Part Three.
This excerpt is from Part 2: KNOWING, Chapter 7: Manage Your Sales Energy
If what you heard today resonates with you and made you curious about the book, I invite you to get your copy of the new Selling Like You’re Human book at humane.marketing/book2. You can also download the whole 1st chapter for free to see if it resonates.
And I’m also planting a seed about my ‘Marketing Like We’re Human’ program that I’ll run in its live edition starting at the end of January 2022. This is where we take all these concepts from the two books as well as the 7Ps of Humane Marketing to a much much deeper level in an intimate group learning experience. Find out more at www.humane.marketing/program
Get your copy of the ‘Selling Like We’re Human’ book !
Sarah’s Resources
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(FREE) The Humane Business Manifesto
(FREE) Gentle Confidence Mini-Course
Marketing Like We’re Human – Sarah’s first book
Selling Like We’re Human – Sarah’s second book
Authentic & Fair Pricing Mini-Course
Email Sarah at sarah@sarahsantacroce.com
Thanks for listening!
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