I've been thinking about this for some time, and here's what I've come up with :
They say that all objections (assuming the person is potentially interested to begin with) boil down to not knowing and therefore not trusting the salesman, i.e. thinking that they will rip them off.
I thought about this and I disagree. Yes it's important but it's not that hard to overcome, and it's not the real issue.
Then for a time I was convinced that the real issue is that you've entered their territory, and that's why they're on guard. Whether it's a phone call or a knock on the door, you've interrupted their day to try to sell to them. The problem here is that you've backed them into a corner and given them only 2 options : buy, or goodbye (as opposed to : buy, goodbye, or come back later - in the case of a car showroom (aka the salesman's territory, not the sellee's) or whatever).
But now, at the time of writing this, I think it's not even that. I think the real reason why sales is hard and doesn't come naturally to most people is because people have an instinctive aversion to the idea that someone is only interested in their commission, and therefore will say or do anything to make the sale. In other words, they're only concerned with their own interests. i.e. they'll lie or otherwise misrepresent what they're selling, or they'll be pushy, or they'll linger for ages and try to exhaust the person into buying.
The reason why trust (i.e. will this person rip me off?) and territory seem like the real issue is because they exacerbate it. In other words, if the person thinks you might only care about yourself and your commission, then the fact that they don't know if you'll rip them off plus the fact that you're intruded on their territory only makes it worse.
Another reason, and I think it's a big one, is that it's hard to get hold of people and grab their attention. If you call them, often you have to make lots of calls to even get to speak to the decision maker. It's very draining and demoralizing. And if you email them, well then it's all too easy for the person to not notice your email, or not bother opening it because it's probably spam or bullshit, or if they do open it it's too easy to think meh and not bother, because you haven't grabbed their attention. It's just an email.
So, to sum up, the 2 reasons why I think sales is hard are :
* It's hard to even get hold of people and get their attention
* People are wary that you only care about yourself and your commission
Things that I don't consider to be reasons why sales is hard :
* People don't want to spend money - No I think people love to spend money. Most people spend some money almost every day. People love shopping, they love impulse buying, and some people even love to gamble their money away.
* They don't know you - Well, people go to shops all the time that they've never even heard of and buy stuff. They go to previously unknown websites and order things. No I don't think people care that much about this. People are perfectly happy to spend money on strangers.
* They don't like to be sold at - No, people don't mind at all if someone tries to sell something to them. It happens every day. Advertising, someone coming up to you in a shop and asking if they can help you and offering to explain a product, and so on.
* They resent the fact that you want commission - I don't think people even care about this. People are quite happy to give a waiter extra money (a tip) for a job well done. They don't mind the fact that the other person is hoping to get something out of the deal.
Also, I think it's perfectly reasonable for someone to ask for information before making a decision. Especially now with email. This creates a dilemma because if you send info they could easily forget all about it or change their mind, and if you don't, they'll wonder why.
They say that all objections (assuming the person is potentially interested to begin with) boil down to not knowing and therefore not trusting the salesman, i.e. thinking that they will rip them off.
I thought about this and I disagree. Yes it's important but it's not that hard to overcome, and it's not the real issue.
Then for a time I was convinced that the real issue is that you've entered their territory, and that's why they're on guard. Whether it's a phone call or a knock on the door, you've interrupted their day to try to sell to them. The problem here is that you've backed them into a corner and given them only 2 options : buy, or goodbye (as opposed to : buy, goodbye, or come back later - in the case of a car showroom (aka the salesman's territory, not the sellee's) or whatever).
But now, at the time of writing this, I think it's not even that. I think the real reason why sales is hard and doesn't come naturally to most people is because people have an instinctive aversion to the idea that someone is only interested in their commission, and therefore will say or do anything to make the sale. In other words, they're only concerned with their own interests. i.e. they'll lie or otherwise misrepresent what they're selling, or they'll be pushy, or they'll linger for ages and try to exhaust the person into buying.
The reason why trust (i.e. will this person rip me off?) and territory seem like the real issue is because they exacerbate it. In other words, if the person thinks you might only care about yourself and your commission, then the fact that they don't know if you'll rip them off plus the fact that you're intruded on their territory only makes it worse.
Another reason, and I think it's a big one, is that it's hard to get hold of people and grab their attention. If you call them, often you have to make lots of calls to even get to speak to the decision maker. It's very draining and demoralizing. And if you email them, well then it's all too easy for the person to not notice your email, or not bother opening it because it's probably spam or bullshit, or if they do open it it's too easy to think meh and not bother, because you haven't grabbed their attention. It's just an email.
So, to sum up, the 2 reasons why I think sales is hard are :
* It's hard to even get hold of people and get their attention
* People are wary that you only care about yourself and your commission
Things that I don't consider to be reasons why sales is hard :
* People don't want to spend money - No I think people love to spend money. Most people spend some money almost every day. People love shopping, they love impulse buying, and some people even love to gamble their money away.
* They don't know you - Well, people go to shops all the time that they've never even heard of and buy stuff. They go to previously unknown websites and order things. No I don't think people care that much about this. People are perfectly happy to spend money on strangers.
* They don't like to be sold at - No, people don't mind at all if someone tries to sell something to them. It happens every day. Advertising, someone coming up to you in a shop and asking if they can help you and offering to explain a product, and so on.
* They resent the fact that you want commission - I don't think people even care about this. People are quite happy to give a waiter extra money (a tip) for a job well done. They don't mind the fact that the other person is hoping to get something out of the deal.
Also, I think it's perfectly reasonable for someone to ask for information before making a decision. Especially now with email. This creates a dilemma because if you send info they could easily forget all about it or change their mind, and if you don't, they'll wonder why.