The salesperson controls the process and the customer controls the decision. This is the least common way that things are sold. I experienced this incredible way to buy over 50 years ago. A truck salesman named Frank Kramer, who is now deceased, showed me how it should be done. I was so impressed and satisfied that I became addicted to what he had done. I felt like a king as he gave me exactly what I needed and could afford. Frank was a natural salesperson, and, in my opinion, he was the best salesperson that I have ever encountered in my 71 years of life.
This experience is what motivated me to invest my life to discover why this way to buy was so rare. I haven’t ‘met or been served by more than five to six salespersons who have done it right like Frank Kramer did. In fact, it has gotten worse as the years have gone by. Today I buy a lot of products and services because my businesses are much larger than when I met Frank Kramer.
I actually dread dealing with the so-called salespeople that come to sell to me.
I had a marketing company come in with six people, give me a dog and pony show and ask for $250,000. I asked what guarantee would you give me? They answered, “Well no one ever knows what actually will work”. I asked why should I buy this from you? They answered because we are professional, and we know what we’re doing. I thought to myself, if you are this ignorant about human behavior and sales, what could you possibly know about how to influence someone to call me about my services.
I saved the best example for last
I was buying a phone system for my new office building and I was shopping around as I had no specific knowledge on the subject. I met a salesperson at his facility; he proceeded to tell me about his solution. Now this person wasn’t pushy at all. He was just completely ignorant about selling. He proceeded to tell me what he had to offer. I got so bored that I literally put my head on his table and took a nap. He continued to talk to my wife and never skipped a beat.
I’ll leave you with this thought which I will continue to address in all of my subsequent posts.
“Our understanding of human behavior and obvious selling is as primitive as was the practice of medicine before we knew that there were germs.”
It’s that bad and I will prove that to you and show you how to become as expert in dealing with people as you are expert in what you’re selling. That will be my topic going forward.
