Selling v Marketing

I was reading a post the other day – posted by a well respected friend of mine who is an awesome marketeer. I respect his skills as a marketing Guru. 

 

However – his post was totally inaccurate from a sales point of view. He stated, to increase your sales, get used to prospects saying ‘No’. He went on:- prospects are not saying no to you (they ARE), so don’t take it personally. They’re saying ‘No’ to the offer, the product or the costs. Let me be clear – they ARE saying ‘No’ to YOU. People buy from people, right? So, if people DO buy from people, they’re also NOT buying from people. Take it personally, take it very personally AND learn from it. 

 

The upshot of his point was that if we (YOU) get used to hearing ‘No’ you will not be put off and will give more presentations and when people say ‘no’ you won’t stop presenting. So basically, your work rate will go up, but you’re expecting ‘No’ results. That can’t be good for your psyche or mental health, can it? 

Here’s where sales and marketing differ. 

 

Marketeers bring in leads, any lead will do. Sales people (like me) want fewer generic leads and more specifically-interested-in-my-product leads. 

 

WHY would you work so hard at attracting prospects when you’re expecting them to say ‘No’? 

My solution is this, and I COVER it in greater detail in my book. Advertise to find the right prospects, people who are in the market for your offerings. THEN, price condition them BEFORE you go and present to them. I would NEVER go on an appointment (driving costs, time costs, loss of income from ‘Yes’ prospects) before I have gotten an idea that the prospect understands what I am offering and a rough idea of the price implications. 

 

In my presentations I will kill off the competition (ethically and with the prospect’s understanding & agreement), by the time you deliver the price, they ought to think you’re UNDER-charging them. With this style of presenting, you will invariably get ‘Yeses’ not ‘No’s’ 

 

As for validation of this point – I never get a ‘no’ after my presentation. Occasionally (less than 3/10) I will still get a ‘money objection’ but your never going to win them all. If you have a strategy (justified price drop, “If I can – Will you…?) to overcome a money objection, you have a great chance to sign it up. Got to be better than walking away happy with a ‘No’ yes? 

 

I sell a lot of stuff and I SELL IN TODAYS MARKET PLACE. It works for me. What’s your thoughts, am I wrong?