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In my 31 years of network marketing, I've never seen a better company than Yoli, that's why I came out of retirement to build another huge business. Fill in the form below for a FREE bottle of Alkalete!
I Hate to Sell
Have you ever heard this from a prospect? Maybe you've even said it yourself. It's funny that I've been in professional selling for well over 30 years and I still hate to sell. Why do we all hate to sell so much?
I believe it has to do with our perceptions of selling. Most of us think of salespeople as pushy - selling people things they don't want or need. Who would feel good about doing that? Yet, sales is one of our most important occupations. Think of how difficult it would be for the surgeon to perform lifesaving surgery without instruments, pharmaceuticals, gowns, masks, and medical equipment. Salespeople sold all of those things to the Dr., clinic or hospital. Selling is nothing more that finding a need and filling it. You already know what needs your products/services fulfill, so your job is to ask questions and find people who have those needs. Selling is sharing. If you believe in your products/services, you will want to tell everyone about them. You will share your success stories and those of other distributors and customers. No, not everyone is going to buy. Even though they need what you have, they may still say no. That's ok. I would love to tell you that you can succeed in network marketing without selling. That the products sell themselves, but frankly my products have never jumped off the shelf and convinced a prospect of their value. You will need to sell people on the value of your products and opportunity. So, how do you learn to sell. Well, actually we are all very natural salespeople. Think about the last time you really wanted to go to your favorite restaurant and your spouse or a friend wanted to go somewhere else. What did you do to convince him or her? You sold the benefits of the restaurant: the great environment, service and food, how much fun it would be, how excellent the food tastes, and so on. There are many good books and tapes on selling. My favorite book is How to Master the Art of Selling by Tom Hopkins. Also, check the internet and your local paper for seminars on selling. If you have a community college in your town, they may also have classes on sales that you can take in the evening. The key to sales is to find a need, explain the benefits of the products and how they will help your prospect fill his or her need. If you have built some solid trust and have successfully shown the benefits, the prospect will probably buy. If he or she doesn't, find out why. If they are still misinformed, find printed information that will educate them and ask them to try your products again. If they still don't buy, keep good records and contact them periodically with new information. Don't hassle them, educate them. Very soon you will have a good customer who will most likely turn into your best distributor. Selling makes the world go round and makes your network marketing business grow.===============================================================Rod Nichols has been involved in the network marketing industry since 1979, as a company founder/owner, distributor, consultant, trainer, coach, and author. His books Successful Network Marketing for the 21st Century and Would You Like to Dig In My Goldmine? were industry best sellers for several years and his newest books, The Twelve Power Secrets for Network Marketing Success and The Ideal Business are quickly becoming must reads for anyone serious about success in network marketing. Rod is also the co-founder of The 2 Percent Plan, a lead generation and funding system (www.the2percentplan.com/plus). He has trained tens of thousands of people and is know as a “nuts and bolts” trainer. Rod is available to speak at conventions, conferences, regionals, or any other event requiring a dynamic outside speaker. He is also available to coach individuals and small teams. More information about Rod, his fees, and other great network marketing resources are available on his website at www.RodNichols.com or you can e-mail him at Rod@RodNichols.com===============================================================
About the Author: Rod Nichols
Member Since: 08/06/2007
I'm a Distributor For:: Yoli Blast Cap Technology
Other Company: I am a founding distributor and Triple Diamond with Yoli
Industry: MLM
Primary Web Site: http://www.AlkalinityBiz.com
Thanks Rod! Simple. Elegant. Easy to use. Spot on!
Thanks Rod! Simple. Elegant. Easy to use. Spot on!
Hate to Sell
Thanks Rod. Elegantly put. I use to feel this way until I read Sales Therapy by Grant Leboff. Excellent book. I highly recommend this book for those of us who have not used sales skills to make a living. This book helped me to crossover, feel good about and not be fearful.
Natural born salesman....
You made "selling" sound natural! Thanks Rod!
Selling is not telling....
Great way to address the I hate selling attitude. I have found that the best way to approach this is to ask questions. Let the customer sell themselves! It is an art but with a little practice it becomes fun to sell!
Live great!
Mary T
Very good post!
It is next to impossible to do MLM or network marketing without some selling. Even sharing is selling, call it what you want, but you will have to be persuasive to make it in MLM. Great article!
I like sales. It is no sales that are difficult.
Great article that states "Selling is nothing more that finding a need and filling it." The mistake is attempting to create the need, invent the need or see one that is not there. 'Selling' to people who do not want or have no interest in your wares is what creates the animus and dislike for 'selling.' Discovering how to attract the people you are looking for, learning how to identify those who have the need for your product may be the most difficult part. Once mastered there is very little that can go wrong if you have what someone wants to buy.
Great article!
I too have heard this a lot and felt that way for a long time. That is until I realized that life is constantly selling. We sell ourselves everytime we speak to someone. We sell our beliefs, our values, we sell products and ideas of others daily and don't even realize it. If what you have is valuable, then others will eventually see it.
You're right on
Rod,
Nice article. Keep up the good work.
"Sales is nothing more than the transfer of belief." --Zig Ziglar
The only time Selling is Fun
The only time Selling is Fun is when you have a huge mob of People screaming for what you have.
Then I love to Sell so learn the Skill of finding that Huge Crowd It is not as hard as you think. Your Friend for Life Juanita Waterman
How you percieve yourself
If you go in to a situation with a prospect with the intention of "selling" them, the prospect will sense your intentions and become fearful. Interestingly enough, this fear occurs quickly, usually within 30 seconds. When the fear arrives, the walls go up. If you enter in to a situation with the attitude that your intention is to educate a friend, your prospect will sense your positive intentions, and recieve the information you are offering. Remember, prospects MUST recieve your information, not simply "pretend" that they are recieving.
I'm not a sales person
Hey Rod,
Great stuff...
I hear some say they are not sales people... I'm just goin to refer them to this article...
Thanks... You've made it simple for all of us!
Continued Success and Abundance,
Jim
Guess What?
happens if nothing gets sold? Nothing..
Sorry couldn't resist.
Can you be a Born Salesperson?
Can you have the gift of gab?
When do you start closing?
If you ask for the sales persons card did you win?
Do you follow up with people who don't buy from you?
When's the right time to ask for referrals?
All the answers to these questions are more can be found at ?
Jim Hammons
jim@prosperouslifestyledevelopment.com
http://www.prosperouslifestyledevelopment.com
You Know Why I Hate Selling?
Great post, Rod!
You know why I hate selling? Because I thought that I had to become something I'm not. I didn't get my current girlfriend by acting a certain way. I was blessed to receive her because I acted like myself. I was genuine in my interest in her and in my own personality. I've asked to court other women, and they turned me down when I acted like myself.
Can anyone else see how this can relate to selling?
Great stuff Rod
That is a great article...selling is who you are...not what you do. So many people try to make presentations instead of just being themselves.
~Timothy Carter
Independent Team Beachbody Coach
http://ICommitToFitness.com
http://TheResidualIncomeLifestyle.com
Networkers Are Buyers Not Sellers
Good article Rod. Most networkers fail to realise that they are actually BUYERS not sellers. I hate to sell too. But I will always try to make people BUY by selling the benefits and values. Unless we buy we can't 'SELL'.
good point
Good point made. I hate to think of myself as a used car sellmen kind, so I just look at it as...if the person like ME and I am myself and whatever the product then great, if not will I am still me, I am not the product.
Selling Doesn't Have To Be Hell!
Very well written article Rod.
They say the top 3 things people fear most in life are death, public speaking and selling. Like you say, we are all natural salespeople. We have found ways to influence others since we were small children. We recommend things all the time to our family and friends. Like good movies, good books, good restaurants, nice hotels, places to travel,etc.
But isn't it interesting, when it's a business opportunity and there's money on the line we're so afraid to talk to other people! Go figure.
Here are 2 really good classic books that will help people learn to be great salesmen(or women). The first is "How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success In Selling" by Frank Bettger. The second one is " How To Have Confidence And Power In Dealing With People" by Les Giblin.
Don't be afraid of selling! Who cares if someone says no to your opportunity...eventually someone will say yes.
Good Luck To All,
Brad Marcus
Thanks!
Thanks to all of you for all the great comments and additional comments.
Rod
One of my up line was
One of my up line was telling me the same thing the other day as in this article. Now that i have read it from you too i am going to think twice.
Clarification: Avoid confusing SELLING with MARKETING
Excellent article, Rod, but there's a serious error in it that's already being repeated in the comments, I notice.
MARKETING is identifying a need and satisfying it — not selling.
Needs define markets.
SELLING is the art and skill of getting people to want what they need — because no matter how much they need it, until they want it, they won't buy it!
This highlights a widespread misunderstanding amongst sellers, who tend to think that "marketing" is just a nicer or less offensive word for selling.
It's not.
Two FREE Insight Reports from The Profit Clinic explain the differences in detail.
Click here to request YOUR free copies now...
John Counsel
http://REALnetworkmarketing.com
Thanks for your input
Hi John,
Thanks for your input. I was dealing with the objection that we all hear either directly or silently that people don't like to sell and they view what we do in network marketing as sales - whether correct or not, it's a fact. Whether we call it marketing or sales doesn't really matter, because to our prospects it's sales. What does matter is that we help network marketers understand how to handle that impression and get beyond it to build a large business by helping others build large businesses. I hope that the material you are offering will help networkers accomplish their goals.
Have and awesome day!
Rod
Hi Rod :D Prospects are
Hi Rod :D
Prospects are right in seeing what network marketers do as sales, because that's what it is.
Selling.
I can't agree that it doesn't matter what we call it. That perception is symptomatic of the problem that all sellers face when they fail to understand the difference between marketing and selling... they think they're the same thing, but they're not.
Part of the problem is that most of the population never comes into direct contact with marketers. But they're in constant contact with sellers. So when sellers tell them that they're marketers, it's hardly surprising that there's so much widespread confusion and error.
Marketers are the backroom generals — the strategists who do the research, testing, planning, pricing, the market communications (which is what most people mistake for marketing, in fact) and the targeting.
There's a cynical saying that defines network marketing as "a room full of people getting very excited about not making any money". As cynical as it may be, it's still based in a very prevalent reality for most people.
There's a cynical saying about marketing that says "marketers know when the duck season is, where the ducks are located, what kinds of ducks, the best weapons and ammunition, the best way to attract and lure ducks, the best shooting spots, and they load and aim the guns, pull the triggers... then they send the sellers into the swamp to bring back the dead and wounded ducks."
Again, cynical, but based in reality — when they're genuine marketers, not just sellers who think that they're marketers, like the proverbial sausage that thought it was the butcher.
Yet it's not difficult for sellers to learn and apply the knowledge, insights, attitudes and skills needed to become effective marketers. In the second free report I mentioned, "How I Stopped Failing at Selling and Found Success with Marketing", I recount the true story of how, as a newly graduated teacher at just 20 yo, urgently in need of cash, at the worst time of year, trying to sell a product that nobody wanted (at any price), I went from being broke and desperate to earning almost my annual salary as a teacher in less than three days when I discovered the crucial difference between selling and marketing — and sold all the available inventory for prices 300% to 500% higher, in batches of 5 to 50 at a time to people who desperately NEEDED them.
I teach the same knowledge, insights, attitudes and skills to my own downline team — and those who are able to let go of the self-defeating conditioning they've acquired about selling (and "marketing = selling") find that they earn much more money, in a lot less time, with far fewer people.
So I guess you could say that the material I'm offering will help networkers accomplish their goals — if they take intelligent action and put it all to work in their businesses. :D
John
http://REALnetworkmarketing.com