At some point in our lives, every person has had to deal with a salesman or two and in some cases, it might be a harrowing experience since, in some circles, salesmen ARE just how they’re perceived in Hollywood since they can be every bit as ruthless as they’ve been portrayed. But on average, a salesperson won’t badger a client and they certainly won’t look at them as another dollar sign or another easy mark since that’s not good business. The truth is that salespeople do see others as a means to an end a lot of times, but they know that treating people like people is a better way to earn trust and build a rapport that will lead to a sale than to be a slick hustler that knows just what to say and what weaknesses to play on. Honest salespeople might not be thought of as the best in the business, but in an ideal world, they can at least state that they’ve taken care of their customers and earned a decent and honest living. Plus, satisfied customers can turn into repeat customers.
Here are a few things that Hollywood gets wrong about salesmen.
5. Salesmen don’t have to follow the rules. Sooner or later everyone gets caught.
In the movies, this is seen a time or two since no salesman in their right mind is going to think that they’re above it all. Those that do this tend to make mistakes no matter how tightly wound their plans are and no matter how great their ability to talk themselves out of a corner might be. There are rules to sales for a reason and they’re usually to protect the buyer, not so much the seller since the salesman is putting themselves out there as well as the product that they’re pushing. The risk of not following the rules and trying to cut corners is a loss of reputation to start with, and a loss of freedom if things really go south.
4. The average salesman doesn’t care about the customer, it’s just a sale. It’s fairly true, but plenty of salespeople have a heart.
It’s true, a lot of salespeople tend to look at their next sale as just that, their next sale. But the fact is that a lot of them will at least make an impression on their customers by doing what they can to talk them up, build a rapport with them, and make the transaction a little more personal. This is good business since it allows the buyer to trust the salesperson and in doing so make it feel as though the individual has their best interests at heart. Sales can be kind of a ruthless racket and the promise of more and more money can really bring out the worst in some folks, but those that want to climb the ladder and still keep a good reputation will often follow the rules and actually listen to their buyers.
3. To a salesman honesty is just another tool. Honesty is underrated if anything.
It’s true that some people couldn’t tell an honest person from a snake in the grass even if they were bitten in the next second, but there are plenty of people that don’t trust salesmen for a good reason. They don’t want to be tricked, they don’t want to spend good money on something that’s out of their price range and will break down quickly, and the reasons go on. Getting a sale is all about being able to talk to the customer, but it’s also about being honest since some folks do have a heightened ability to detect a lie and won’t buy from salespeople that are anything but genuine.
2. A good salesman knows how to hustle anyone. Wrong, a good salesman can turn on the charm and sell anything.
There are those salespeople out there that know how to scam and hustle people and will do so simply because they can in order to get a sale. But the great thing about being in sales comes when you learn how to get a person to trust you and agree to buy something not only because they know that you’re not leading them down the wrong path, but because they feel that they’re getting a good deal on a quality product.
1. Any salesman worth their tie won’t take no for answer. It’s better to hear no than to anger the client.
Many folks in sales are taught to never simply back down at the word ‘no’. It’s not supposed to be in their vocabulary and it’s not a word that they like to hear. But in the end, if a person is set on walking out and saying no to the sale, it’s best to respect their decision and hope that they’ll be back then to hound them until they’re out the door. That kind of ensures that they WON’T be back since no one wants to be pushed into a sale. Taking ‘no’ for an answer is sometimes better than coming off as the bad guy that is just trying to make a bit of a profit.
Salesmen aren’t all bad, but there are those that are wise to avoid.
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