Alec Baldwin’s explosive rant in Glengarry Glen Ross (here) is responsible for many people’s misperceptions of salespeople.
Not least the salespeople themselves.
Say “A.B.C.” to a sales professional and chances are, they’ll chant “Always be closing” back at you. It’s become something of a sales legend now, that all energy should be focused on closing that deal.
I have a real problem with this language.
Why is a sale something to be dealt with, closed, shut down, finished.
I suppose it’s fine if you want to make a quick buck and move on, but our world is a little more complicated than that.
As I’ve said before, sales are all about relationships. They’re ongoing, long-lasting and, if they’re going to work, require regular nurturing.
This article from Marketing Wizdom (here) talks about persistence in closing the sale, and I can’t disagree with the thinking, at least in terms of tenacity and commitment.
Yes we know during the sales process you have to make a move and ask for the business but let’s try something radical.
Lets’ start seeing sales as something you open rather than close.
Because that’s the best route into a long-term relationship.
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About Me
- Kevin Jackson
- The glasses are important, since I’m almost totally blind in one eye. This means I have zero depth perception. Instead of making snap judgements, I have to think around a subject and look again to try and gain a sense of perspective. And that’s what I’m doing here - taking a different view of the trends and patterns around us to see if they’re as close as they seem, or further away than we thought. There’s not a discipline within the communications mix that I haven’t spent time in – what connects them though, is my passion for igniting advocacy and word-of-mouth. I’ve also worked on multi-platform campaigns for some of the world’s biggest brands, we are all on first-name terms. Ultimately, whether it’s a consumer, business or internal audience, no one is exempt from my belief in engaging experiential communications. Over the last four years ago, I’ve been busy developing relationships across the telecoms, technology, FMCG, retail and energy sectors, to name a few.
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