Lesson 3: Destroying the 4 myths associated with sales | Travel Research Online

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Lesson 3: Destroying the 4 myths associated with sales

A few years back I wrote a book on sales that if I do say so myself, is still a pretty good read. I titled it “Become the Exception” for obvious reasons.  I’m not promoting the book in this article but I would like to highlight the first four chapters.  They focus on four popular selling myths.

Myth #1:  Selling is a numbers game.

You’ve heard this.  If you make enough calls and send enough emails you will eventually sell something.  This is the old numbers game approach.  It might have been effective a few years back, but it’s a myth.  Selling is no longer a numbers game.

Selling today has become similar to a game of darts.  You toss the dart toward your target hoping to score. The closer you come to the bull’s eye the more points you record. In my mind, the dart represents your marketing tactic of choice and the dartboard represents your prospect.

Once you identify your prospect, you select your marketing weapon of choice and let it fly. Not just once, but until you make the appropriate adjustments and hit the bull’s eye.

If you throw the dart and it goes low to the left, you know the next toss needs to go higher and to the right. We keep adjusting until we zero in on the target. Focus. Adjust. Toss.

Myth #2: You have to be thick-skinned.  Many sales professionals believe that they have to become comfortable with the notion of rejection. I think that is wrong.  You must stop flattering yourself.  Prospects are not rejecting you.  You don’t have to take it personally.  You don’t have to be thick-skinned.  People are rejecting the situation.  They don’t have the money; they don’t have the time; they don’t have the wherewithal; they don’t want to go.  There are a lot of different reasons why people say “no” to you.  It is a waste of your energy if you take it personally. Just move on to the next “dartboard.”

Myth #3: Stress comes with the territory.  Selling is not stressful if you know how selling works.  Here is the short form–there are only two kinds of people in the world:

  1. People you can help
  2. People you can’t help.

That is pretty much all you have to know.

You can split all seven billion people on our planet into these two categories.  If you bump into the people you can’t help, there is no reason to become stressed; you just happened upon #2.  Your job is to go find more #1s.

Myth #4: You have to like people.  I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t like everybody. There are a lot of people who are dishonest.  There are a lot of people who cheat … and lie … and steal.  I don’t like those people.  I choose not to do business with them.  I do not want to be seen with these people no less consider them as my “customers.”

I like the people I like. I tell you this because there are probably a lot of people on your customer list who you don’t like.  I’m quick to suggest that you need to distance yourself from them.

Lose the people who are bogging you down or not paying your bills, or doubting your value, or trying to get something for nothing.  You don’t need to do business with those people.

You no longer need to become concerned with the four myths of selling. You now know how things really work.

Email Mike to learn about his upcoming training opportunities. Hint: They involve River Cruises, Ocean Cruises, Private Clubs and even a summer training opportunity. mike@mikemarchev.com

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