The Parable of The Young Salesman
I recently saw this terrific Oasis advertisement and it reminded me of the following Parable:
A young Salesperson was disappointed. He had lost an important sale. In discussing the matter with the Sales Manager, the young man shrugged. “I guess,” he said “it just proves you can lead a horse to water, but you can not make him drink.” “Son,” said the Sales Manager, “let me give you a piece of advice: your job is not to make him drink. It’s to make him thirsty.”
I reproduce this lovely little parable because it sums up what selling really is and what it absolutely isn’t.
You are not, like this young salesman, trying to persuade someone to use you and buy from you. Actually what you should be doing is creating desire. And how do you do that? By asking questions and listening to the answers. By asking why the answers matter and what they mean to your customer. You should be trying to get inside your customer’s head and seeing things from his or her perspective.
Then, you will not sell to them; instead they will buy from you.
That’s it really. Isn’t selling simple?
Janet is based in Enfield, north London and trains small businesses and entrepreneurs how to sell more.
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