The most important part of the sale isn’t always the features and benefits. Lots of products and people perform many of the same tasks, with similar parts and even lower prices. But only you can sell -

You!

Recently I had to very different sales experiences. The first one started out with a lot of anticipation on my part. I’d heard of a cool webinar platform with lots of new features. I read pages of their website, watched three demo videos and asked questions from their chatbot. Except for a few items, I was ready to buy. So I booked a call with their salesperson -

To my immense regret.

The salesperson got on the call completely unprepared. They hadn’t looked at my website. They hadn’t read the questions I emailed in advance. They didn’t introduce themselves in any way. And for more than 20 minutes, they absolutely unconditionally refused to give me a price. They even went so far as to ask me to guess how much I thought it would cost.

In less than 20 minutes I went from someone anticipating with excitement becoming a client to someone who hung up the phone bewildered and annoyed –

Because the salesperson wouldn’t sell themselves.

A few days later I had a sales experience I was initially dreading. I needed a new suit because, well, I’ve put on a few pounds lately. I wasn’t looking forward to trying on clothes with a stranger watching. But when the salesperson introduced herself with a big smile and an enthusiastic greeting, my worries melted away. She chatted happily about clothes while easily mixing in questions about my work, clothing style and budget. She established trust by telling me prices before I tried things on, and how I’d be more comfortable in one brand without overpaying for another. She even pushed back with the tailor when they seemed reluctant to do extra work to get the suit just right.

In less than twenty minutes, she sold herself as my personal clothing advocate -

So I bought not one, but two suits. And a sportcoat.

It wasn’t the features that mattered in either case. Nor the marketing budget or the latest tech. It wasn’t beating competitor or lowering the price. The most important deciding factor in both cases was the most valuable of all:

The person who showed up:
Just like YOU!

#alwaysinspiring