Sales...what is it all about?

No one likes to be sold...but we all like to buy.

There is a difference. Think about the last automobile you bought. I'm sure you wanted to have your questions answered. However, my guess is you were tunred off if the salesperson tried to get you in a car you really didn't want. Service and caring about the person is important.

I'll relate a short story from my past...

I was a young kid in my late 20s looking at buying a new truck. I knew what I wanted and knew what it should cost. I also knew in order to get what I wanted it was going to have to be a special order and nothing off the lot. All I needed to do was go to a few different dealerships, give them my list and have them shoot me a price (including a trade-in value). I went to a few dealships and had wonderful experiences. However, the closest dealship I went to I walked in and they said someone would be with me shortly. After 30 minutes of waiting, I would have normally walked out, however at this point I turned it into a game to see how long it would take. Over an hour later, a sales person finally came over to me (I'm pretty sure he was pretty much low many on the totem pole) and asked if he could help me. His demeanor changed drastically when he found out I was looking at ordering a new vehicle. I went ahead and let him go through the pricing however there was no way I was going to buy a vehicle there. In fact, I drove my vehicles 30 minutes for service to avoid going back to that dealership for anything. Moral of the story...I don't necessarily like being sold to, but do like to be "taken care of" through good service.

There are plenty of people out there that are open to making money for moving a product. If you think back to the hay days of the door to door salesman, the word conjured up images of a hard working individual. (Take a look at some popular plays from the period...Death of a Salesman, Brighton Beach Memoires, etc) When you mention salesman now, people don't see the hard-working image. Instead they see the "pushy" salesman with the gaudy mis-matched clothing portrayed in movies etc in images of a used car salesman. The image has changed.

The internet has also changed that image. People are more interested in doing their own research on the internet, and then being an informed "shopper". This does not mean you turn your sales duties over to the internet. This is a mistake many people make. If you think you are just going to advertise your website and people are going to go there and buy your product, you are really kidding yourself. Websites are great for getting information out there, and great as a TOOL for those that are already sold to buy more, however, it still takes the human touch.