I’m a sucker for a good salesman. Makes no difference what product or service. I just like to watch a really good sales pro in action. But, they’re becoming a vanishing breed and harder to find.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with calling nearly any effective, professional seller of things a “salesman,” though a lot of businesses go to great lengths to call them something else – advisor, personal assistant, product specialist, etc..
In my mind, “salesman” or “salespersons” are totally respectable monikers. Lee Iacocca was one. So was Billy May. Rev. Billy Graham was another. Ronald Reagan comes to mind. Each with a message or “product,” each with enthusiasm, each earnestly wanting you to take/buy what they offered because you’d be better for the experience.
Even in the more mundane world of daily commerce in our lives – cars, furniture, life insurance, real estate, consumer electronics – a good salesman stands out. He or she is the person you look for at the store; the person you want to find because you know you’ll get good information, experience professional service and walk away fulfilled with whatever you’ve been sold. Salesmanship – real salesmanship – is both a talent and an art form. It’s a beautiful thing.
But, boy, is it hard to find these days! Last time we were in the market for a new car, I cast about on the Internet and phone to see what we could do. Five calls made. Four calls not responded to. Young fella called, said he was the dealer’s I-net “customer service” representative. Took my information and said he’d respond with an email quote within the hour. That was three years ago.
Tried to buy a car recently. Local “salesman” had been with the company more than 20 years, he said. When it got to dollars, not only were they unacceptable, so was his stated attitude that he and the dealership have to make a profit, too, and we should consider that in pricing. We bought out-of-town where there was some major market flexibility in choice and price.
When I went in for service a few months later, this guy loudly upbraided me on the sales lot with customers and sales people in earshot. He wanted me to know selling cars was how he made his living, he’d invested his time with us and we “owed him” the sale. “Owed him?” What about price, terms, attitude, inventory and so forth?
An “investment advisor” in our area, assigned by the national company that holds my retirement annuity, said he couldn’t “advise us” because we wouldn’t sign a contract for his other retirement planing services. I’m retired. I’m 88-years-old. It’s too late to plan. I just need updates on changes in my existing plan. He can’t – or wouldn’t – do that without me buying something. A company I’ve been with for more than 30 years. Salesmanship? Service?
A young local fella trying to sell us his services to do some plumbing work we needed made a good sales presentation. We signed up. But, before he finished the work, he criticized how we had positioned our home on the acreage, told us our landscaping was wrong, added materials not covered in his bid and presented us with a higher bill.
A good salesman – a really good salesman – instinctively knows, whatever the goods or services in question, what he/she is really selling is himself/herself. Lots of people sell houses, insurance, cars, boats, carpet cleaning, furniture and swimming pools. When we go to their place of business, we’re buyers. We know what we need or want. So, all that’s necessary to have a successful experience is someone who knows that, knows the merchandise or service, is both persuasive and enthusiastic, and who makes us feel we are the reason that person is in business. It’s really that simple.
Politics requires salesmanship, too. Enthusiasm and product knowledge are key. So is a personal appeal to the voter/buyer that our interests are his/her interests. What we get, far too often, is a change of message after the deal is closed – after the election – that “If you knew what I know you’d agree with me.” Salesmanship? Or B.S.?
A good salesman – regardless of product or service – gets us to do what we wanted to do all along but the reason we acted now is because of his/her knowledge, positive personality, enthusiasm and leadership.
Because we’re a technology-driven society, becoming more and more linked to electronic tools rather than human interaction, really good salespeople are going to be harder to find. We’re being forced into a “check-the-box-on-the-screen” method of purchasing and away from the professional, one-on-one presentation with a handshake at the conclusion.
While that may be more efficient for the seller and maybe a better use of the marketing dollars, it makes for a colder and more impersonal marketplace for we consumers. I don’t want to just be happy with the new $1,500 HDTV. I want the feeling – that good warm feeling – that a professional did the very best he/she could do and invested part of their own life in our satisfaction.
That’s real salesmanship. That’s being really SOLD!
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