Monthly Archives: August 2009

Perceived Value of Disney World Treats Versus Golf Course Fees

By John Aberle | Sales and Marketing , Soft Sell

This week I had an insight into the concept of perceived value that came out of visiting with my brother, Jim. We were in Madison, Wisconsin for a family function. As we live across the country from each other, we rarely get together. I was wearing one of my Disneyland hats and commented that it really is “the happiest place on earth.”  He disagreed. He felt ripped off when he took his family to Disney World. He wanted to buy his daughters some refreshing treat until he found out that this item, which he could normally buy for $.75 would cost him $5.00 at Disney World.

Some Things Cause Us to Feel Cheated While Others We Willingly Pay

I understood how he felt as he’s right. When you’re in a Disney park, if you want it, you pay the price they want to charge. Then it dawned on me. This is the brother who plays golf all the time. And he’s complaining about prices at Disney World for something he’s only going to pay for once, yet he gladly pays his golf fees?

You Decide What’s Important to YouContinue reading

Sales Calls and the Promise of Conflict

By John Aberle | Sales and Marketing , Sales Calls , Soft Sell

I was listening to one of the Soft Sell Marketers Association downloads from June in which Judith & Jim mentioned how they gave a relationship teleseminar on “The Promise of Conflict” because conflict is a part of life. It dawned on me that conflict is a natural part of sales though it is something that most of us soft sell salespeople would rather avoid.

Sales Calls, Like Life, Promise Conflict

Admittedly, I too love sales calls where everything flows smoothly and harmoniously. However, I have enough life experience in sales to know that is being Pollyanna-like to think I can always avoid conflicts just because I use soft sell sales techniques. Life has conflict. If you interact with people eventually there will be conflict. If you do sales calls, I can promise that you will eventually experience conflict.

How You Handle Conflict Determines Your Success at SalesContinue reading

Soft Sell’s Not for Every Customer

By John Aberle | Sales and Marketing , Soft Sell

When you really believe in soft sell sales and marketing, it’s hard to admit that the soft sell approach is not for every customer. While most people I know love it when they find a salesperson they can come to know, like and trust, strange as it may seem, some customers actually want hard sell salespeople.

Groups of People Who Prefer Hard Sell

Here are some examples of hard sell prospects I’ve met and heard about where you waste your time if you try the soft sell sales approach:
•    Prospects who love the power game themselves enjoy battling with hard sell sales reps
•    Prospects who want someone to blame if it proves to be a bad decision
•     People who can’t trust for one reason or another: they’ve been burned so badly or so often they don’t trust themselves to be able to judge correctly; and people who naturally want distance between themselves and others.
•    People who themselves are not trustworthy don’t believe others are so they can’t trust.

Stay True to Your Nature or Adapt for the Sale

The choice is yours Continue reading

Sales Myths – You Must Get Past the Gatekeeper

By John Aberle | Prospecting , Sales and Marketing , Soft Sell

You’re wasting energy trying to get past the gatekeeper. For as long as I have been in sales and marketing, I’ve heard sales trainers teach techniques to get past the gatekeeper. Frankly, that’s a waste of energy and bound to tick someone off. Anyone who leans towards soft sell sales and marketing should instinctively appreciate this fact.

You Choose, Sales Myth or Sales Fact

Believing that you must get past the gatekeeper is a sales myth. If you change your attitude and approach, the gatekeeper can actually be your ally. Business owners and executives would be overwhelmed if everyone wanting a slice of their time got it. So I prefer to think of the gatekeeper as a screen.

A Screen Serves Two Purposes at Once

If you’ve ever been anywhere where homes have screen doors, you recognize this image. What is the purpose of a screen? Continue reading

Sales Call Role Playing Offers the Benefits of a Mastermind Group

By John Aberle | Sales and Marketing , Soft Sell

Yesterday my fellow writers at the Burbank Barnes and Noble Writers’ Group provided an invaluable service for me: they critiqued my article, “Easier Sales – 9 Steps to Finding Prospects Who Want What You Provide.” The good news is that they all agreed it was technically good writing. The better news is that they suggested what I need to do to make the article stronger – and actually interesting instead of a dry and academic list of bullet points.

Mastermind Groups Provide Coaching

Thus I benefited from participation in a mastermind group. Such a group goes beyond the beneficial service of proofreading to pointing out what needs to be done to strengthen your work. It requires people who have the technical competence to actually contribute to your understanding and help you look at things from a different angle. For sales and marketing purposes, sales call role playing serves a similar function.

Avoiding Constructive Criticism Cheated Me of Help Improving My Sales SkillsContinue reading

How to Sell for the Fun of It

By John Aberle | Sales and Marketing , Soft Sell

People who are highly competitive tend to find confrontation fun like they do competing in any other game. I’m writing for the rest of us who prefer to see sales as developing mutually beneficial relationships, in other words, for soft sell salespeople and marketers.

Selling can be fun, and even thrilling, when you establish with your prospects that you sincerely care about their wants and needs. Demonstrate that you are interested first in helping them with their concerns. In my experience, one of the fastest ways to have fun selling is to stop worrying about what I want. Instead I put my attention on my prospects.

Develop a sense of curiosity. There is a joy in getting to know other people Continue reading