Making the case for customer-focused selling and customer service

Everybody sells. But not everybody who sells is proficient at it. In fact, many who sell don’t think of themselves as salespeople. These are people I think of as "non-traditional" salespeople. Maybe you fall into that category. Non-traditional salespeople can be anyone in your organization, even if it's an organization of one – you.

Typically, non-traditional salespeople have job descriptions and titles that have nothing to do directly with sales. They have a particular area of expertise, but it's not sales. Think of them as independent professionals like consultants, writers, coaches, solo entrepreneurs, small business owners, accountants, financial planners and graphic designers. Other examples of non-traditional salespeople fill offices, warehouses, delivery and service vehicles, retail stores and non-profit organizations everywhere.

From my work with groups of new business owners, including several independent professionals, I've learned that even some businesspeople believe that selling is beneath their ethics and that selling, or at least the selling process, is uncomfortable, unnatural and potentially sleazy.

This seems odd to me. After all, none of these people will be in business for very long if they don’t sell.

This view of selling is based in the worst examples of pushy, unethical, sell-it-at-any-cost salespeople. There are plenty of examples of that these days. Those “sales dinosaurs” typically focus on their needs and goals rather than delivering the positive results their customers need.

For many years, customers allowed this to be the default method of selling and customer service. But there is a better way.

Customers have become more sophisticated and demanding.  Today their focus is on addressing strategic level problems in a manner that will make them more productive and more profitable. Customers are focusing on their needs and wants more now than ever. They expect vendors to focus on solving their problems. Customers now lead with the question “What’s in it for me?” (WIIFM).

So how do non-traditional salespeople provide that truly customer-centric feel to the sales process? They learn a sales process that is based on putting the customer first. They learn to put their own agenda on the back burner and focus on solving their customers’ problems.

Keep your browser pointed right here for tips and advice on how to do just that.

Happy selling!

Pat Hassett

P.S. Tell your friends.