Helping vs Selling

“Nothing happens until a sale is made.” It’s a slogan I’ve heard time and again throughout my career. Without selling, businesses fail, companies and families struggle. Community budgets strain under the burden of insufficient tax dollars. So, I guess selling solves all our problems. Or, does it?

Selling is as old as time itself. We are all always selling, aren’t we. Our kids are the best salespeople in the world. Why? They have no fear of rejection. “Dad can I “fill in the blank”? “No. Please? No!, Pleeaassee? I said, NO! But, every body else is… No! Come on, please???? Okay.” Now tell me, isn’t that the model of selling? You keep asking – eventually the prospect, err Dad, says yes.

Great salespeople have made fortunes selling Real Estate, Cars, Computers, etc, etc, etc. But many have failed outright or struggled along. Dreading the end of the month for various reasons. The least of which is there are bills to pay, and/or your company sales goal is looming like a tax deadline. Is it any wonder you hear so many people say, “I hate sales!”

Is it any wonder you can never get a real decision maker on the phone when you need to? Why is it so hard to get through? The Boss has hired a reception-ist, who’s sole job is to give you a rather chilly reception when you show up unannounced, or make an obvious “sales call”.

The President of the United States would be very well protected by some of the “Gate Keepers” I’ve encountered in my life. “Hi, can I speak to Mr. Buyer, please?” “Is this a sales call?” “Uh…Well…Um…” Click! I’m knocked out of the game before I get a chance to throw my first pitch.

Eventually, you get depressed or fired or both and you swear off a career in sales. Then it’s, Adios, financial security. I mean, we all know that in order to survive in this world we must take in more than we spend. Unless you are the Government. But I digress. So what’s the answer? If it’s not selling, then what? I’m glad you asked. The answer is “Helping!”

When you start the day by asking this question, “Who can I help today?”, you enter into an entirely different personal dynamic than if you ask, “Who can I sell my product or service to today?” But here’s the real difference between helping and selling. If you’re going to go the helping route – you have to mean it. You must totally embrace the concept of helping. And that means helping everyone. Not just someone who will spend money with you. You must create a ministry of helping.

If you make it about what you get back, you’re cheating yourself. If you make it about sneaking in a soft sales pitch under the guise of helping, you’ll be found out and lose all credibility. You must sell out to helping. You must focus your total being and effort on truly helping others. When you do – it’s a game changer! A Big Time Game Changer. Because — it changes You!

Start by making a list of who really needs your help. This list will include prospective customers. But it must also include non-customers. Family members, friends, business associates, strangers. We’re shifting from a career in selling, to a ministry of helping.

Now this is no get rich quick scheme. It will take a while to have an effect on your so-called bottom line. But ift will have an immediate effect on your heart. And therefore, your life.

Here’s another sales saying – “Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” When a customer really gets that you truly care about their needs more than your own, you will have gained more than just a customer. You will have made a friend. And real friends like to see their friends succeed.

I openly admit that most of my life has been all about me. Needless to say, my life was filled with discomfort and pain. Not in my body, but in my true heart. It’s worse than a clogged artery. I had a clogged spirit.

If you’re suffering from the same malaise… If you feel like you’re losing the daily battle, I invite you to change sides. I invite you to begin your own ministry of helping. You can start right now. You don’t need an office, a seminar or a new iPad. You just need a cause. And that cause is every person on this planet except you. It’s crazy, I know. But, I’m here to tell you it works.

@5minutemashup A great post!

Helping others is really all about amazing customer service (even before someone is a customer). It’s the corner stone of the new economy.

Russ

@5minutemashup Great post, thanks

i love my customers and  try and help them as much as  i can…..but if they ask the  naughty  questions…. like  where i got something   so  they can  skip me and  buy it from   the supplier i  say no….or if they want my   carpenters name    so they can skip me and  go directly to my  carpenter   i say no….or if  they want to come in and  just   talk to a worker who is    trying to wait on a real interested  customer i have to   care about that…

im all for  good  service  ….  but to  be here to give it i have to meet my  expenses and  they are pretty   large……. i have to use my  resources   in the  best ways…

.. 

@supereb Amen! Sounds like you and I work alike. What gets me is that when one nicely suggests that the questioner purchase help from you because it would be faster and cheaper for them to do so, then you hear silence from them. It’s okay for you to consult for free, but it’s not okay for them to help you put food on the table for your family.

I agree with all of this,and have used this helping model for a long time. I have helped a lot of people over the years with free advice and services, and it has been very good for the soul. I have expected nothing in return and sometimes that is exactly what I have received, but you need to go into this model knowing that and being cool with it.

By the same token, my actual paid services have been promoted by those I have helped and with around 50% of helpees, I have gotten sales eventually. I add every person I help into a database so I can see the bigger picture, and when I compare the cost involved to me for helping them out, compared to the cost of advertising, I must admit that this style of marketing does have it’s merits.

And don’t be confused about that, helping people when you are operating a business IS a marketing tactic that has been around for a very long time. Sure it makes you feel good, but it can also be very beneficial to the bottom line too at times. I guess you just need to keep your eye on the “cost” of doing business in this manner and then decide if it is right for you.

My company has been using this model for months and I mean months. We’ve gained respect by some very well known companies as a good security company. Some companies also dislike us because they refuse to fix a security issue, so my company tells the public. The issue at hand is that it hasn’t turned into any sales.

 I love helping others and my companies blog has really done that. Especially the article I spent a month or two on, but very few people  have clicked on ads and no one has bought internet security services due to the blog. Any ideas on what I am doing wrong? I’ve read Kissmetrics, Heidi Cohens blog, Traffic Generation Cafe(that’s how I found out about this place), etc. and still nada.

I speak two languages, so I can market to more than just English speaking people, so if someone speaks Spanish I can communicate with them. My Spanish isn’t superb, but it is pretty good. Heck, people who are around me are now speaking Spanish to other people when they didn’t even know they knew a word of Spanish due to the fact that I usually say a sentence in English and then say the same sentence in Spanish.