Two Kinds of Sales Philosophies: What kind of closer are you?

POST AN ARTICLE

Featured Sales Blogs

In Partnership Wth:

DiversityJobs.com

JustJobs.com

MAIN MENU

Two Kinds of Sales Philosophies: What kind of closer are you?

Written by Mike Brooks

More Gravy
Four Simple Methods to Closing More Sales

There are several advantages to offering alternatives to a customer. It doesn’t come across as pushy, lets the customer pick the product/service/option that works best for them, and shows the customer that you are trying to provide something that truly meets their needs.

Two Kinds of Sales Philosophies
There are two kinds of sales philosophies out there and while they both accomplish the same thing - closed deals - they go about it in very different ways and with very different consequences to the closer. I'm very familiar with these approaches because I've practiced both of them, and in my consulting and coaching I constantly run into both attitudes.

Serious Closer
On the one hand is what I'll call the serious closer. I used to be this kind of closer, and, when I was, the only thing that mattered was how many deals I closed and how big my paycheck was at the end of the week. Now don't get me wrong - I'm not saying this is a bad thing and I can tell you that I sure made a lot of money. But there was a downside to it.

The downside was that I based my entire self-esteem on how well I did as a closer. If I had a good month then I felt good about myself, but when I didn't do well I tended to get anxious and depressed. I could be moody, and I often projected my attitude and self-esteem on others. I looked down on those who didn't perform at the top and after a while I lost my empathy for others and eventually for myself.

Another problem was that I was driven to succeed all the time. While this might sound like a good thing, the flip side of it was fear. There were many evenings and mornings I would wake up in fear of not making or exceeding my quotas. This fear drove me to close sales at all costs, and in the end I cared more about closing sales than I did about what was in the best interests of my clients.

While this may seem like an extreme attitude, the push for profits, for making quotas and for succeeding in business often supports and rewards this kind of a sales mentality.

"Of Service"
After years of pursuing sales in this way, a slow transformation took place and I developed into what I now refer to as an "of service" sales professional. While I'm still all about closing deals, today I go about it in a very different way. Today I'm more concerned with finding people and companies I'm a good fit for and then looking for the maximum ways of being of service to them. I'm more interested in helping today than I am in closing at any expense.

There are many benefits to this new attitude and one is that today I don't have the kind of financial fear that I used live with. These days when I wake up in the morning I have a ritual of meditation where I now ask the spirit of the universe to put me in the position to be of maximum benefit to the people I encounter. As in all my meditation and affirmation sessions, I always end with a visualization of many companies and people contacting me with the specific needs that I am uniquely qualified to help with.

After many years of practicing this kind of sales philosophy, I can tell you that as long as I continue to take action, remain positive, and stay focused on being of service, I have all the business I can handle. I also have a peace of mind and a calmness that sees me through times when the economy changes or the seasons change. For that I'm truly grateful.

Today when I work with clients in a coaching relationship, the one common thing theme I find is a constant worry and anxiousness about not having enough money or not being successful enough.

The answer to that, I've found, is to examine their core sales philosophy. "Are you trying to get or to give?" I ask them. Once we get straight on fundamental question, the business flows in a much easier and enjoyable way.

If you like this article, click here for Mike Brooks' book, The Real Secrets of the Top 20%.

Mike Brooks
		About the author:
		With over 20 years of inside sales closing experience, Mike Brooks has been billed nationwide as Mr. Inside Sales. Once a bottom 80% producer, Mike learned and perfected the skills of Top 20% producers and became the number one sales rep out of 5 Southern California branch offices. Author of the hot new book,The Real Secrets of the Top 20: How To Double Your Income Selling Over the Phone, Mike's proven techniques, strategies and skills are used successfully by companies in industries such as securities sales, high-tech sales, pharmaceuticals, equipment leasing and other business to business applications. Mike combines proven, current tactics and skills with personal experience to provide a motivational and practical presentation. .