C’mon, admit it! It’s ok to say it, we all know it: Selling is evil, it’s just plain evil. It’s awful and horrible. It’s despicable. Seriously, it’s just atrocious and immoral. And, it’s beneath you!
It would have to be all those things according to what most of you, as eye care professionals, tell me. When asked, in one of my surveys, to define selling, here are some responses from some of your peers:
“Selling is pushing someone to purchase something they may not need.” “Selling is convincing a person to buy something from you.” “Selling is persuading a person to buy an item you’re trying to profit off of.” “Selling is trying to get money from someone to buy something they don’t want or need.” “Selling is trying to deceive someone to get their money.”
These are actual responses.
Now ironically, and no matter what you do for a living, Selling is necessary. If there weren’t any sales, 99% of us wouldn’t have jobs. So, selling a product and/or service is necessary. But is it really a necessary evil?
Well, it probably is if you subscribe to one of the definitions above or have a negative perception in your head about what you think Selling is. And you probably do because negative perceptions and definitions about Selling is all that’s been taught to us.
Most of us accept the notion that Selling is all about persuading someone to buy something… Selling = Persuasion. So let me ask you this, do you personally like to be persuaded? Yeah, neither do I. And neither do most people.
So if Selling = Persuasion and most people don’t like to be persuaded, then of course Selling is evil. Selling sucks!
But I believe most of us don’t understand what Selling actually is. Try this on for size: Selling is just helping someone acquire something they need, for compensation. Isn’t that truly a natural extension of who you are as an eye care professional? Selling has nothing to do with persuasion. If you’re a trial attorney, then being adept at persuasion is probably valuable to you. However, as an eye care professional, persuading a patient to buy something is laborious, painstakingly frustrating and makes you feel like you need a shower to wash away the stench of being a “salesperson”.
Here’s a quote I love:
“It’s not whether you win or lose. It’s not even how you play the game. It’s how you feel about yourself after the game has been played” — Anna Quindlen
So I guess my question becomes this: What will make you feel better, persuading someone of something or just helping them acquire what they need?
Of course, the choice is always up to you. Me? I’m just trying to make your life a little easier. 🙂
