Negative selling styles are all too prevalent across the retail sector – in this instalment of his series on Modern Day Selling, Brian Barfield identifies a few of the worst offenders, and explains how important it is to create an energetic, sympathetic and trustworthy style of your own …
Along our journey to discovering the modern-day sales presentation, I have shared insights that have revolutionised my sales career. I hope the importance of seeing your sales presentation in a new light, re-establishing the bond of trust with your customer and connecting with them, has resonated with you.
Now, I’d like to share the importance of examining and creating your own selling style, and how it sets the tone for your sales presentation.
In previous articles I have spoken of ways that we have missed the mark in sales training as an industry. This has led to the birth of three negative selling styles that have given us all a bad reputation.
The first is the look-at-me sales associate. This type truly believes they know everything, and can’t wait to tell you all about it. Usually, they are very skilled and knowledgeable in the art of selling their product – the only problem is that their selling style is ruled by vanity and selfishness.
Here are some examples of a look-at-me sales associate. A customer comes in and shares that they just got back from a wonderful family vacation in the Bahamas. Instead of acknowledging the customer’s trip and making it all about their customer, what do you think they will do? They will proceed to mention that they have been there 15 times already, or talk about their trip to Hawaii. Their response screams “look at me!”
Another example is one I am sure many of you can relate to – watching the look-at-me sales associate try to sell a product to someone who already knows what they want. The customer simply wants to get in and get out with their product. But, because they fell victim to the look-at-me sales associate, that, unfortunately, is just not going to happen. Thus, the sales associate proceeds to talk for 30 minutes about their knowledge of the product, while the customer tries to politely find a way out.
Many of you may be laughing to yourselves now, knowing all too well how life working alongside a look-at-me sales associate can be. Watching them work can quickly rollercoaster between being amusing and entertaining, to incredibly sad and frustrating because they just don’t get it.
The next negative selling style that you will have seen utilised is the bad fisherman technique. The sales associate who subscribes to this has a strict routine and refuses to change it for any reason. You see, at one point they very well may have been catching fish with this exact selling style, but after a while their hotspot has been fished out. They show up to work every day doing the same old thing, only to find that the fish are not biting any longer. They refuse to find a new selling style or hotspot where success may be found.
In other words, they have become a very bad fisherman.
The final negative selling style is the heart transplant selling style. This sales associate is always choosing to focus on the small and insignificant parts of selling, instead of taking care of the heart of the matter. In a bridal sale they will focus more on the certification of a diamond, rather than finding the mounting style that she absolutely loves.
“The look-at-me sales associate truly believes they know everything, and can’t wait to tell you all about it – their selling style is ruled by vanity and selfishness”
They don’t realise that if you connect with your customers and establish a bond of trust early on, you won’t need to spend so much time on the little things.
There are factors at work that bring all three of these negative selling styles to life, and qualities like selfishness, fear and greed are at the forefront of the issue.
In the modern-day sales presentation, I encourage you to find a new selling style filled with passion, energy and a serving attitude. Make your customers’ needs the focal point of your sales presentation. Try to see the sale through their eyes. Make their experience a fun and entertaining outing. Strive to be seen as a trustworthy, fun and knowledgeable associate.
In closing I encourage you to do some homework to help you discover and create your own selling style. Within two of my past articles – Sales Truth #4: Serving while Selling: A Forgotten Past-time, and Sales Truth #6: Creating a Show-time Experience, both of which can be found on my website – you will find many of the answers to your questions of how to create a successful selling style.
In the next article, we’ll move on to how to manage your sales presentation.
Brian Barfield is a two-time published author who specialises in retail sales training. His Modern Day Selling series offers a unique perspective in teaching sales associates how to reconnect with their customers and achieve greater success in their sales career.
