Soul of the Sale

Surfing Maui

Instincts are an inner guidance system – a sixth sense, or in popular terms your “spider sense”. Instincts anticipate what may be around the corner, be it opportunity or danger. The survival instinct guides the herd of gazelle to the most fertile source of food – or away from the danger of a predator. The survival instinct functions much the same way in humans, but there are other instincts that we can put to use as well. Surfing anyone?

Instincts put all our senses on alert. They marshal all our faculties and skills to a one-pointed sense of purpose. In sales, instincts provide us with signals concerning the quality and value of a lead or prospect inquiry. They guide us through the sales relationship with hints about where and which direction to turn. Everything we can learn or sense about our prospective or existing client, their company, its culture – indeed the whole context that has been presented to us will provide us with signals to guide the response and actions. This is no different than in life itself, but in the field of commerce the context is to explore and move toward a successful exchange of goods, information, and/or services.

When we pay attention to our instincts Read the rest of this entry »

Sunset over Roan Mtn, NC

What is the soul-level purpose of the salesperson? How can we think of our role, our work, in a way that inspires a greater sense of purpose and value for ourselves and society? For me, the answers come through like this…

The role of the salesperson is to facilitate the exchange of goods and services for the betterment of all those involved. Both the giver and receiver must be well served by the exchange. It is the role and joy of the salesperson to discover, evaluate and guide the conversation to a successful, rewarding and loving relationship. It is through the love of the salesperson that the parties are brought together to share in the creation of new possibilities for life as a whole and for society. Salespeople are co-creators in the field of commerce — and it is commerce that provides the environment, the fabric, for mutually-beneficial exchange. What is Read the rest of this entry »

NOTE: This post stands on its own, but it will be more fun if you read Part 1 first.

I spent the first few weeks of the new year clearing out the garbage. Business was slow with budgets not yet released and delayed sales closures. At first, I found myself in a state of disappointment & frustration, but I soon remembered my own maxim: Avoid the do-do. Be in the Being when you do the doing. (Those who have read the Bhagavad Gita will recognize this as an elaboration on Krishna’s advise to Arjuna on the battlefield at Kurukshetra: “Established in Being, O Arjun, perform action.”)

With that reminder, I started having fun with the process, and guess what? Things opened up — energy began flowing and new, healthy leads came to the forefront. The beautiful magic is that true to my past experiences, the new business often comes from the least expected, or even unknown places. This time the magic came in the form of a last day of the month sales cycle that started in the morning with an unexpected opportunity, and closed by day’s end. Universe delivers once again!

Since childhood, I have been fascinated with watching garbage men engage in their trade, and yesterday was no exception. Even if I am on the phone, when I hear the massive whine of the truck coming down the hill to my end of the street, I turn to watch out my 2nd floor window. The driver & ’shotgun’ jump down from the truck to transfer the neighborhood’s waste into the truck’s all-consuming mouth. They joke and carry on while they work, oblivious to any social stigma attached to their profession. Pulling the lever, the truck’s jaws compress & swallow our waste into its huge belly. In a blink, they climb back into the truck and charge back up the hill, leaving us with empty bins to be filled for next week’s visit.

What, you ask is the sales lesson I draw from the garbage men? Read the rest of this entry »

My friend Jim came to dinner recently, giving me the opportunity to get clarification on his comment to my January 1st blog post. As a retired business insurance salesman, I respect Jim’s insights. He described his experience selling to prospects who are so wrapped up in their own personal situation that it is all but impossible to ‘get through to them’. For him, active listening and related techniques often met with resistance.

The implicit question I was hearing from Jim was this: “How do you get to the soul of the sale with challenging prospects? How do you make that connection?” For a richer answer, I posed it during a Writing Down Your Soul session (did I mention I’m a sales mystic?)…  Read the rest of this entry »

i got a new blog / called soul of da sale

it’s all about sellin’ / an’ makin’ it real

not about pushin’ / to get da next deal

your brothers ‘n sisters / an’ you ‘re ALL ONE

sellin’ to anotha’ / is sellin’ to y’self

it’s all about love / and doin’ da right thing

so get in da groove / an’ sell from da soul

watch da sales unfold / it’s sweet to behold

so blog wit’ me now / an’ follow my tweets

its time to get dis / out on da streets!

In many ways, my sales success has been somewhat magical — supported by unseen forces that have often paved the way to a sale in spite of my innate resistance to formulaic selling techniques recommended in sales training and books. I have never felt comfortable using manipulative or coercive techniques to win the sale. I prefer the honest approach that builds trust, and delivers on promise.

In the Fall of ‘08 I was part of a sales presentation to a major financial services firm discussing ways that our consulting services could help increase engagement and conversion for new and existing… Read the rest of this entry »

Anyone who has been asked, or asked themselves that question knows how difficult it can be to put into words what may have become second nature after many years in a sales career. The question hit me in 2006 from one of 8 sales colleagues at an annual meeting for our $13M consulting services company. I had posted another record year of sales, consistently ranking at the top over what was then a 12 year career with the firm.

My answer was something like, “Well Ed, I really love my customers. I listen to what they are trying to achieve, and if I feel the services of our company can help them, I am passionate about communicating that in a way that relates to their challenges and desires.”

But I knew there is more… Read the rest of this entry »