I’m really jazzed about the major sporting events going on this weekend. I’ll be attending the start of the NCAA men’s baseball College World Series here in Omaha, and closely following the U.S. Open golf tournament however and whenever I can.
What’s that…there’s another major sporting event going on? Oh yeah, that World Cup soccer thing.
Calm down, soccer fans worldwide, I’m toying with you. I know that is the biggest sporting event in the world.
However, most guys my age in the U.S, in their 40’s and 50’s, grew up playing baseball, football, and basketball, and many of us also got into watching hockey. Then some of us got into golf–some of us much more than others.
I am one of the bigger sports geeks you’ll ever meet. I have spent more time attending, watching, reading and talking about all of those sports than I am proud to admit.
However, with soccer–and let’s include tennis and NASCAR–there has been zero appeal for me over the years.
But, I can understand they are tremendously popular sports, and have rabid fans.
And right now I am really making an attempt to get into the World Cup. I’m reading everything I can about the teams, players, history, how players are developed worldwide, the importance of soccer to other countries and its citizens, those annoying horns we hear during the games, etc. And I watched the end of the US-England game (well, right after I finished playing 18 holes).
I’m not certain I can ever become an avid fan, but I can respect how others are passionate about this and want to understand and feel where they are coming from.
What does this have to do with sales?
Well, everything. Let me put a spin on it.
You have certain thoughts, interests, beliefs, and knowledge about your products and services, why you think your prospects and customers should buy, and what YOU want to do.
But, most importantly, YOU are not your customer. In sales, it does not matter what you want. It needs to be all about them.
When you let your interests and desires get in the way, that creates objections. That is, IF you are even able to get to that point, meaning self-interested salespeople often don’t even get the chance to speak with a prospect, since their "all about me" calls, emails, and voice messages are ignored and deleted.
So here’s one of the simplest principles of sales success: forget about what YOU want. make it all about them. I have a brief audio tip that goes into a bit more detail on this. I invite you to join me and take four minutes to listen in:
[audio:http://www.telesalesblog.com/mp3files/OnePieceofAdvice.mp3]