My role isn't to help you sell more - it's to get people to like you more. Because people don't like being 'sold' And, they mostly buy from people they know, like and trust.
Which is why I'm a content writer and not a copywriter.
The role of copywriter is to help you sell. Their pages are filled with 'triggers', calls to action and SEO-friendly keywords and phrases. Their role is to get you 'leads'. Attention, interest, desire and action.
Anybody with a warm pulse.
And when you get that 'lead', you sell to them. More than likely following a script that is designed to bring your pitch to its natural conclusion. And then you trial close.
Answer, or overcome (such an intimidating verb) the objections. Then close.
Hopefully.
But as with most sales pitches, the answer is often "I'll think about it." "I'll get back to you."
Worse still (from your point of view) a definite NO.
Sales people in a sales culture. Trying their very best, but not quite measuring up in the popularity stakes.
Being rejected, but ignoring social clues and carrying on, regardless. Every No being closer to a Yes.
They've been told by their sales guru, "Don't sell the product/service, sell yourself."
But in the space of an hour long meeting, that's a tall order. Especially when you have a service to sell at the same time.
And at that very moment when selling yourself turns into selling your service, at that very moment, the sales pitch turns from relational to transactional. And now you're competing with every other sales person.
Of course, the hungry, hustling and crushing it sales person doesn't mind competing. They thrill at competing.
I win - You Lose.
Next.
But just like gladiators in ancient Rome, eventually the luck runs out and the rut they were in has now turned into a sizeable hole. Deep enough to bury them.
The irony of it?
Nobody cares. Except them. Live by the sword, die by the sword & all that.
There are only so many people that can be interrupted, hustled and manipulated.
People, and buyers in particular, are becoming immune to sales pitches of any kind.
Spam filters, ad-blockers, fast forward on the remote past those annoyingly puerile PurpleBricks and the Go Compare ads. All designed to ignore your beautifully crafted efforts.
If we are out of sync so far, I'll keep being that square peg. You know what I'm looking for.
The one thing that we aren't immune to, though, are relationships.
Especially relationships that matter.
And that's where I come in.
Helping you to become more transparent, more vulnerable (people relate to that), more likeable.
It's uncomfortable peeling back the layers, but that's what we do with true friends.
" If you are to win a man to your cause, first make him a friend."
Abraham Lincoln - 16th President of the U.S.A
Finding out things we like. Those we don't. Discovering whether we're due a "uh-uh" moment that turns into a deal breaker. Sharing values, beliefs, convictions until the strongest of bonds is formed.
Then.
Then you don't have to sell.
Then you don't have to defend yourself.
Then it doesn't matter what your 'competitors' say, or do. Because you're not competing.
The role of a salesperson, whatever the industry, is tough. The demands of you to hit that monthly target never go away. But one by one, if you make a friend rather than attempt a close, the odds become more and more stacked in your favour.
It won't happen today, tomorrow, or the next day. So those leads won't go into your sales funnel.
They deserve more. They're looking for clues.
Clues as to whether you're a good fit.
What clues can you leave?
If your opening shot is "We're the best at what we do", then you need some help.
Everybody is best at what they do.
Check out our web site www.andsothestorybegan.co.uk
On the contact page, fill in some details, click submit and you'll get a comprehensive statement of how we can help. What you won't get is a sales pitch.
We're either a good fit.
Or we're not.
If you would like to be notified when next I post, there's a form on the home page. No spam, no unsolicited calls, no messaging. Just a notification.
Thanks for reading.
Chris
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