If you hate to sell it could be that you have attached sales with having to be ruthless, uncaring or manipulative. You may feel that you want to serve people but you hate to sell them. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Years ago when we
were in our corporate jobs, Richard had to handle a letter from a very irate customer.
But before I tell you what the letter said, some background: The woman had been in to get glasses for her daughter. Apparently the sales associate sold her a standard pair which ended up having one of the lenses getting broken while her daughter was out on the playground. The women took the glasses over to her
eye doctor who made the comment that she should have been given the type of lenses that don’t shatter – something called polycarbonate. (It's also the most expensive option, by the way.)
The woman was furious that we didn’t offer that option to her when she was in buying the glasses. And when she came back in to find out why, someone explained that sometimes we just get too busy, or
sometimes, because it is more expensive, it doesn’t get offered.
So back to the letter. The last line was: How dare you decide for me which products and services I get to know about. How dare you.
Now admittedly in my past, I thought that “service” was always best when “selling” least.
Surely, the less money you made a customer spend the happier they would be, right?
Perhaps well intended, this is a flawed mindset. The best service is when you show all of the products and services you have that could make someone’s life better and don’t make decisions for them. You can guide them. Advise them. But they need the opportunity to say yes or no.
If based on their needs you don’t feel they need the “most expensive” item, say so. But don’t let your customers buy from your head and your wallet, let them buy from theirs.
And so all of this brings us back to hating to sell. Selling happens millions of times every day all over the planet. It is not
something to be ashamed of because to sell is to serve.