You're responsible for sales in your business and it is the most important role, right? I mean you can have the best product and service in the world, but without sales, you are not in business.
So why, when we are trying to sell our products are we seen as something less than professional?
Scientists have proven that love and hate are not polar opposites as you may think. A study using a brain scanner to investigate the neural circuits that become active when people look at a photograph of someone they say they hate has found that the "hate circuit" shares something in common with the love circuit.
Just like the similarities of love and hate, selling and being considered as a con artist or at least being seen as someone who is not 100% genuine, a person who will say/do anything for the sale is just too common an occurrence for my liking.
I am many things, a business owner, a writer, a video editor, a website designer, a course creator, an educator, a coach… But the one thing I know I am above all else and what I used to get the least respect for is being a salesperson.
I remember in my early 20’s out on a night out with my pals, we got chatting with a new group of people and one of my friends at the time introduced us all. Teacher… lawyer… Architect… “oh and he is just a salesperson”, he said about me, it was derogatory, he was trying to be funny, but he meant it.
Well this ‘salesperson’ was a year younger than them all, whilst they were newly qualified and in the first year of their profession, I was still at university and working part-time as a salesperson and I was still earning at least £10k a year more than them.
Even though I was good at what I did, and had the highest customer retention rate in the company. Even though I was doing well. I didn't feel good about what I was doing, I didn't feel I had any respect and I certainly didn't respect myself.
Do you feel like this when you are selling?
What if I were to tell you that as someone responsible for selling your business, it should be crucial to learn the tactics of being a con artist. So you can become a “con artist” too.
WHAT!!! “I hear you scream…
My job is hard enough without having the reputation of being someone who people can’t trust.
OK, now wait. I have not lost my marbles or my integrity.
Let’s take a closer look at what a con artist is.
A con artist is a person who performs a confidence trick. A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust.
Con artists are very good at understanding human behaviour. For most, it’s a natural skill, which they only get better at through experience.
Those who believe they would never fall for a scam don’t realise it’s not about how smart you are; it’s about how well you control your emotions. Fraud victims and for that matter, people who buy legitimate products and services that are overpriced and are not a good fit are people with emotional needs, just like the rest of us. But they can’t separate out those needs when they make financial decisions.
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A veteran scammer reveals how he made millions by ripping off unsuspecting investors.
He says
“To find a client’s emotional need, I’ll ask personal questions. Then I’ll throttle up the pressure by focusing on that need”. Now the person isn’t thinking about whether the offer is a scam; instead, he’s thinking, Here’s a fix for my problems…
Closing the deal—is emotionally driven. It’s not logic. If you apply logic, the answer is “No, I am not going to send you my hard-earned money. I don’t even know who you are.” If my victims had applied logic to our deals, they would have walked away every time.”
So there you have it. We don’t make decisions with logic, it is all emotional.
So now you are thinking “only stupid people fall for cons”
Well, the best grifters, want big wins, and usually, it is the smart people who have cash, not the stupid ones.
If you are able to get your “mark” into an emotional state, then this trumps intelligence every time.
According to our veteran scammer, the two most powerful ways to do this are through “need and greed.”
OK let’s take stock for a moment.
There are a lot of similarities between the process of a really good salesperson and a con artist, but there are subtle differences to watch out for. Is it too good to be true, have you been promised great results with little or no effort?
Here’s a list of psychological tools a con artist will use:
Pretty similar if not the same as a salesperson/sales strategy I would say.
A con artist's goal is to gain confidence. Once confidence is established they can run their game.
How about we all become ethical con artists? To build confidence so we can help more people with the products and services that we sell.
Yes, use the techniques of con artists, not for immoral gain, but to offer genuine value to all.
Instead of the final result being a person that has been left cheated, leave that person in a better position than before your paths crossed, regardless of if they bought from you or not.
So here's another list to add to the con artist list. The list to be a great value giving salesperson.
Can you think of more to add to this list?
