Getting schooled in traditional sales techniques

By Elise Hacking Carr

Don’t Fake It to Make It

So many prospects, so many personalities. Here, Bishop and Farquharson share their thoughts on chameleon tactics.

“I think that everyone has a personality, and it’s important to be authentic. Customers can spot when someone is being a fake—and they will be wary of trusting Mr. or Ms. Faking-It. However, you should adopt your ‘communication style’ (how you deliver messages) to the customer’s. If they are a fast talker, with a lot of hand gestures, I would try to communicate in this style. If they were deliberate and thoughtful, I would adopt that approach. That is not about faking who I am. That is about trying to understand a person at a deeper level so you can do a better job of helping them.”

– Linda Bishop, executive vice president/marketing strategist, Standard Press

“Life would be boring if there was a one-size-fits-all sale call. The job of the salesperson is to determine what kind of personality he or she is dealing with and adapt his or her selling style accordingly. I was making a presentation once in front of three key decision-makers. One was very affable and outgoing. The second was a numbers guy and just wanted the bottom-line figure. The third was stoic and stone-faced. The challenge became communicating the benefits of my training to all three. I found myself making a point and then restating it to match the communication styles of the people in the room. Very often, I find myself relying on ‘chameleon tactics’ when I am on the other end of the selling situation. Talking to a car salesman, for example, and talking to his manager requires two different sets of skills if you want to get the deal done with a minimum amount of frustration.”

– Bill Farquharson, president, Aspire For

What makes a good salesperson? Are there best practices? Will there be a drop in sales jobs 10 years from now?
Was your first instinct to interject a laundry list of cookie-cutter responses before reading all of the questions? If so, your ambitions of becoming a sales rockstar will never come to fruition. Potential customers want listeners. Say too much or make one wrong move and you won't even get as far as a rejection. Instead, you'll be privy to the harmonious sound of a slamming telephone.

Seasoned sales professionals already know this, and the successful ones are masters at restraining the "Me, Me, Me" impulse. Nevertheless, they all got their start somewhere and generally are filled with interesting stories. So, listen up.

Linda Bishop began her sales career after leaving her job as an estimator. For 17 years, she sold printing for a company called IPD, which now is a part of the RR Donnelley organization. During her time there, Bishop's sales skyrocketed from $0 to more than $9 million annually. She wasn't born knowing how to cold call, but practiced until it became natural.

"Early on, I stumbled through a cold call with a prospect. She was the main buyer at a big bank. When I asked her if she ever heard of my company, she said, 'Yes. I heard you're expensive and slow.' I didn't have a clue how to reply to that, so I asked for a meeting, and was shocked when she said yes," Bishop recalled. "That moment taught me bad cold calls sometimes work out and bad cold calls are always better than no cold calls when it comes to getting appointments."

Approximately 10 years ago, Bishop took an early retirement to pursue writing and she eventually started Thought Transformation, a national sales and marketing consulting company. However, she couldn't stay out of the sales game for long after observing the business strategies of her client, Atlanta-based Standard Press.