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I’m Not Calling To Try To Sell You Anything But …..

THE PHONE RINGS with its own pre-programmed predictable ring. You anxiously run to answer the call only to have the voice on the other end say something to the effect of “hello my name is John Smithers Jones (I just liked the way the name sounded which is why I used it)an d I am calling from JSJ Enterprises but please don’t hang up because I am not calling to sell you anything but….” But of course he is going to try to sell you something as if that were not the case why would he have called you in the first place.

Sales as all of us salespeople know is the exchange of goods, services or property for money. It is the process whereby I use my powers of persuasion (aka sales training) to get you to purchase whatever it is I am selling. Your job is to interpret the information I impart to you to help form your objections which I must quick – wittedly overcome if I want to make the sale and make some money.

It takes a certain personality type coupled with mental toughness to be in sales as you are perennially on a roller coaster inching your way to the top or plummeting back down to ground level at breathtaking speed. Problem is bottom means bottom as in down and out. If you don’t start your ascension back to the top you stand an excellent chance of losing your salary or draw (if you were lucky enough to get one from the start)or a strong kick in the rear to get your non-productive a-s out the door. To make matters worse your friends will seize (likely to seize the moment) the opportunity to tell you that you were crazy for getting into sales in the first place.

Salespeople need to have cast iron stomachs that can repel the acid reflux you build up from deals that die, come back to life only to die again before closing. If making 100+ cold calls per day to get your “quota” is what your sales vehicle calls for, burnout from making 2,000+ cold calls per month burnout (scrambled brain cells that can’t direct you as to how to tie your shoes) is a near certainty. The ever tenacious salesperson shrugs off his burnout (how I don’t know) dusts himself off and is back on the sales train again chugging to another lead that will hopefully turn into a sale even though you are not selling anything or so the prospect is led to believe.

I sell at present and have sold in the past. It’s a life I have known for many years now. Gray hairs (hard to see since my head is always covered by my Kipah) are few and far between but battle scars from the sales wars remain. Still sales is in my blood as it is with most sales people. This is the life I (we) have come to know so well.

Sales makes our economy go. As goods and services are purchased the salesperson makes money so he can purchase the goods and services he wants which puts more money out on the “street.” The essence of selling is to keep money moving so our capitalistic system continues to hum along as it should.

Nothing gets done unless entity one gets entity two to fork over the money. The feeding conveyor belt must be kept always moving forward. The ladder must always be climbed up and never down.   Up is good while down is bad. Only a select few have the vision and drive to tune out their critics, forget the failures while plowing forward.

If you can sell then go out and do it. If you can’t and have proven you can’t stop playing charades with yourself and find a role that fits like mittens on your hand. As they say (they who?) if the heat is too hot in the kitchen go into the living room or stand in front of the icebox. You get the idea.

Salespeople have passion for their profession. Even if they don’t believe in the product or service they are selling they must still pitch on. Without passion you have night of the sleepwalking sales people. Passionate sales people tend to do very well as that is all they (we) know.

So next time your phone rings and it turns out to be your friendly (you have to be friendly but firm) neighborhood salesperson on the line try to visualize the big picture of how important his role is to you. Hey you might just buy one and get the other one for half price or for free. Everybody goes home happy. Happy sales people + happy customers=more business with more opportunity for all. Ring Ring!

Joel Elveson
Joel Elvesonhttps://jelveson.wixsite.com/recruitersite
INDEPENDENT Executive Recruiting By Joel is an "up and coming" Executive Search Firm formed and headed up by Joel Elveson whose visionary ideas, leadership & creativity have brought to life a more "user-friendly" approach to recruiting. His clients and candidates form powerful strategic partnerships that we use to help you. Joel’s Firm offers Permanent, Temporary (case by case), & Temporary To Permanent staffing solutions for all of your Human Capital Requirements. Contract IT/Consultants are available if needed. Above and beyond they are experts (by way of their personal industry work experience) with mortgage, mortgage banking, middle-market banking, accounting, along with many others under the vast financial spectrum of disciplines. Their business goes beyond candidate recruiting as they also train, mentor and develop your internal recruiting staff with an eye towards helping you reduce the cost of hiring. They will also work in areas such as compensation, effective onboarding processes and alike. In other words, their business is to help your business by becoming an extension of you by filling in gaps that cause delay or waste. The recruiting methods employed by Joel’s team are time tested that results in a high rate of successful placements. Joel was trained in the art of recruiting by some of the top staffing industry executives in addition to the best recruiter trainers who to this day drive me to exceed the lofty goals he has set forth.

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8 CONVERSATIONS

    • Many thanks to you for reading and commenting on my article. I look forward to your continued readership.

  1. Another interesting post Joel – Thank you. I have been in marketing and sales for well over 45 years now, and please allow me to share my “two pence worth”

    Sales and Marketing are two terms we often hear together, because the two need to work together. But in fact, Sales and Marketing are two very different functions and require very different skills.

    Marketing plays an important role in selling. It helps sales teams find and qualify leads and maintains contact with prospects throughout the sales cycle. Although sales and marketing reside in different departments in most organizations, integration between the two can help to improve overall performance in terms of revenue and profit.

    Continued> part B

    • Thank you, Jonathan. Your points are very accurate. In my case, I prefer to handle the marketing and sales as I find the process works better that way. As always thank you for your loyal readership not to mention your comments and complements.

  2. Part B
    Sales is important because it is the bottom line. Marketing is about getting a product known. At the end of the day, it’s about the business bottom lines – and about getting results. Generally speaking, you cannot sell a product without marketing. Marketing comes first. Advertising is about getting a product known. Marketing is about identifying a customer’s need or want.

    “You cannot sell a product or services without marketing. Marketing comes first.”

    Sales are to businesses, like oxygen is to humans. All peoples who are doing business can understand this question easily. “BUSINESS = REVENUES = SALES = GROWTH”

    I always tell my Marketing and Sales team, “Don’t wait for opportunity create it”.

    • Jonathan, it is always a pleasure to converse with somebody who truly understands sales and marketing. Thank you for your comment.

  3. Once again, a wordsmith par excellence is at work! Joel Sir, your detailed story draws such a realistic picture, I almost felt the ‘Ring, Ring’ in my ears. Your justification makes a strong case to visaulize how much these telemarketing sales contribute to the economy, both local and Federal.

    If my understanding serves me well, your message tells us to love the message even if we hate the message!

    Thanks & Warm Regards

    • Bharat,
      I want to enthusiastically thank you for your treasure chest comments. Your enthusiastic comments are compelling me to get back to writing new material which I hope to do Sunday evening. Thank you so much for being a trusted friend in addition to being somebody I consider to be a mentor. Take care!

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