What’s wrong with focusing on your sales process first and your sales philosophy second, or just ignoring the whole thing? It’s all about the results you want vs. the results you will get.

 Have you got the cart before the horse when selling?

Most people when selling focus on their cart – their sales process, their sales skills. They focus on learning how to present and persuade, how to overcome objections, how to close. In fact, this is how a lot of sales trainers and coaches teach them. So even the “experts” are leading you to the cart before the horse approach.

Actually, most people consciously forget about the horse. Most don’t even think about their sales philosophy. They simply focus on their sales process and sales skills, and they end up with a sales philosophy as a byproduct of the process they have chosen.

What’s wrong with focusing on your sales process first and your sales philosophy second, or just ignoring the whole thing? It’s all about the results you want vs. the results you will get.

Suppose you don’t want to persuade and manipulate people because it’s not your true nature. You don’t want people thinking of you as being like that. But suppose you are using a sales process that is based on persuading and manipulating people. What sort of reaction will you get from prospects?

What will happen to your sales as a result? If you use a persuading/manipulating sales process by default, people will think you are all about getting the sale – even though that’s not really “you”. Why wouldn’t they?

Assume that your customers can give you lots of additional business and referrals. Suppose your sales process is focused on getting that initial sale no matter what. If that is true, you may forget to mention some things to your prospect or you may be tempted to sell them the wrong solution. What will be the impact on future sales and referrals?

Will you end up with a “Customer for Life”? I doubt it – do you get the point? So how can you avoid a sales process that is not aligned with who you are and what your intent is?

You avoid using such a sales process by consciously deciding on your sales philosophy before you lock in on a sales process. You put the horse before the cart. You consciously decide who you want to be (and not be) when selling, what your longer term intent is, and then you choose and use a sales process that is aligned with that.

For example, if your intent when selling is to gain a “Customer for Life” instead of just making a sale, you discard sales processes that are all about persuading, manipulating, and pressuring people. You’ll ignore processes that are focused on making the sale and stop after the sale is made.

Prospects And Customers Can Be A Huge Differentiator

Once you have adopted your sales philosophy, you want to proactively convey it to your sales prospects and customers, as it can be a huge differentiator. If you have a sales philosophy that is all about helping people and gaining “Customers for Life”, you will stand out above your competition that is only focused on making a sale.

Stop now and consciously decide on your sales philosophy. Then look to see if your current sales process is in alignment. If not, quickly find one that is in sync and begin to use it. You will soon be making more sales and you will also have a lot more fun selling.