Human nature: human relations skills - not canned sales pitches - are the key to a successful closing - MArketing: Sales Success

Entrepreneur, Sept, 1996 by Danielle Kennedy

A FEW YEARS AGO, I set out on a mission. I wanted to prove that developing human relations skills should be the most important part of any sales training curriculum. The result of my research is a book I recently completed titled Seven Figure Selling.

I wrote the book especially for the salesperson who had already tried all the quick-fix sales techniques and was ready to make a commitment, ready to serve till it hurts--in other words, ready to live a mature sales existence. Of course, I knew I had to cover the externals of the sales process--the "what" of seven-figure selling--because top salespeople develop valuable and observable methods of communication worth imitating. But I wanted to know more than the "what" of seven-figure selling. I wanted to know the "why."

So I set out to find generous entrepreneurial legends--people who were willing to tell me their stories. I asked questions I thought other salespeople would be curious about, such as "How did you get started?" and "What lessons did you learn from experience, including your mistakes?"

From these sales stare' stories, lessons emerged--lessons in human relations skills, not faddish techniques or sales exhibitionism. Whether it was Judi Sheppard Missett of Jazzercise International, Angel Martinez of Rockport Shoes, Fred Segal of Fred Segal Stores, weight-loss guru Jenny Craig, or any of dozens of other legendary entrepreneurs, none of them had used what I consider "questionable" sales techniques to achieve success.

This is important because thousands of salespeople looking for answers have spent millions of dollars on training programs that make false promises. For instance, consider the subject of learning how to gain a customer's trust. Some salespeople actually believe you can gain a person's trust by mimicking his or her body language. The prospect crosses his leg; you cross your leg. The prospect pulls on his ear; you pull on yours. Before you know it, you and the prospect are bonded for life. Or what about the salespeople who struggle to memorize 150 different techniques "guaranteed to close any customer"?

The entrepreneurs I spoke with spouted none of this propaganda. Instead of copying gimmicks, these people had spent years learning how to become more humble and more human in their dealings with the public they serve.

What did I learn? Here are a few of my key findings:

1. Training programs are effective only when they are self-imposed and involve training your will as well as mastering external behaviors. Insurance legend Joe Gandolfo, the only life insurance agent in the world to sell in excess of $1 billion in a single year, wakes up every morning at 4 a.m. to make time to pray and mentally prepare for his day. This Lakeland, Florida, entrepreneur, who represents several dozen life insurance companies and has clients worldwide, is in the office early each day, focusing on present and past customer contacts.

What's the secret to such self-discipline? Exercising your will. You learn to strengthen your will by deciding to initiate a certain action, then practicing it until it becomes second nature, Gandolfo explains. When your will becomes strengthened, subtle changes occur in your outer actions.

How do you learn to keep your priorities straight to produce results? By learning from a teacher you truly admire (you'll never do it unless you respect the teacher), and then performing the action. The more you repeat the action, the stronger your will becomes. By strengthening your will, you improve your capacity to practice self-discipline.

Remember, of course, that achieving results takes time, and that requires practicing patience. The outcome of having patience is a strengthening of your will.

2. There is no personality that will do better in sales than any other, or any quick-fix techniques that can ensure success. Twenty-four years ago, when I was six months pregnant with my fifth child, flat broke and lacking any type of sales training, I closed my first sale. I had two things going for me: I knew my product, and my customer trusted me enough to tell me the truth about what he needed.

I was very unsophisticated, with no knowledge of closing skills. When prospects told me they were ready to buy, I said: "You're kidding. That's great, but are you sure you don't want to think it over?"

My customers laughed and called me "refreshing." I hadn't been around enough robotically trained salespeople to know what they meant. Even 25 years ago, the public was starting to catch on to those canned sales pitches.

Yes, anyone can achieve sales success--be it an expectant mother with no sales training or a retired engineer with a degree in rocket science. "You don't have to be a qualified salesperson with a background in selling to do well," confirms Lane Nemeth, founder and CEO of Discovery Toys. "I was just a mother with a toddler when I started selling. I knew my product and cared deeply about it. My passion translated into enthusiasm, and, without enthusiasm, all the technique in the world can't help a flat presentation."