The surprising truth of why selling is human

What do you think of when you hear "sell"?

I bet you're thinking of a sleazy salesman.

A sleazy salesman with black, slick hair. Clean shave. A cheap dark blue pinstripe suit. Ruby red tie. And a fake smile.

Right?

I think a lot of us think that way.

But selling is more. More than the sleazy used car dealer you're imagining.

Especially today.
This dreadful picture used to be correct. In the past, manipulative tactics worked. In the past, the seller simply had more information than his customer.

Today everything is different
Today, the customer usually has more information than his salesperson. Today, these manipulative tactics are ineffective. Today this picture is simply no longer correct.

But why is that?

This is simply because our world has changed.

Today we live in a digital world. In a highly connected world. Today it is no longer a problem to get information or consult our contacts on social networks.

In addition, values ​​such as honesty, fairness, transparency... are becoming increasingly important in our modern society. Often these even describe the only correct path.

And… people just don't have time. No time for sellers. They would prefer to place their order online in a very convenient and calm manner. Without seller.

But first, let me explain what selling actually is. And why we are all salespeople.
In the US, 1 in 9 workers is in sales.

So every day about 15,000,000 people make a living from someone else buying something.

But what are the other 8 doing? For example, what do the lawyers do? The teachers? The screenwriters?

They are also sellers. seller in the broader sense.

Lawyers convince judges. Teachers persuade students. Screenwriters convince producers.

Basically, selling is nothing more than convincing and influencing someone to give up something. In return, that someone will get something from you.

And it can be anything. Not just about the classic sale.

7 things to do when you sell:

You are selling your visitors to read your articles.
You sell someone to publish your guest post.
You sell the partnership to a potential business partner.
You sell a friend to help you with your problem.
You sell your partner, but Greek, instead of going out to eat Chinese.
You sell yourself on your Facebook page.
You see. You don't just sell companies, products or services. You also sell ideas. Or yourself.

You also sell when you just want to convince someone. Daniel H. Pink also calls it "selling not selling".

So we spend a lot of our time trying to get other people to act.

And take a look at your calendar for yourself.

Does anything look familiar to you?

Pink also asked 9,057 people what exactly they do at work. The result was that people spend 40% of their time “not selling selling”. And they see it as critical to their personal success.

Whether you like it or not. We are all sellers.

But what makes a good salesperson?
Let me stick with our sleazy used car dealership. This dealer doesn't sell much anymore today. On a Saturday maybe... 2 cars.

But let's take a look at CarMax.

CarMax does everything in reverse. There are fixed prices here so that there is no unpleasant negotiation. Vendors wear blue polo shirts instead of cheap suits. You get the same commission for each car, so sellers aren't affected by it. CarMax also provides its customers with computers so that the customer can research extensively.