You are feeling a lot of pressure to sell. You are not alone in feeling this pressure, however.

The Problem
Desperate sounding sales professionals are beating up your customers and prospects. They are receiving more prospecting and sales calls today than they have in many years. Companies are being hit hard by people trying to sell to them, while simultaneously being pushed, pushed, pushed to sell their own products and services to their customers.

The pressure on them can be somewhat overwhelming.

The Opportunity
Knowing that your customers feel sandwiched between being sold and having to sell, it’s the perfect time to try a fresh approach with them. This is a chance to differentiate yourself and your company from your competitors. The following might feel somewhat counterintuitive at first, but it will make you stand out and give your prospects and customers some much needed breathing room – and they will respond favorably.

This Strategy Is Called The New Authenticity
What is “The New Authenticity?” It’s how we relate as sales professionals to our prospects and customers.

1. The words we use are sincere and express our personality.
2. We display an almost alarming amount of honesty. “I’m cold calling you because I’m building my business and a partnership between us could make sense, but I’m not sure at this time.”
3. Courtesy rules the day. “Can you talk with me right now?”
4. We must keep the this-is-the-entire-history-of-my-company pitch to an absolute minimum.
5. We shouldn’t lead with our marketing collateral materials; we provide them dismissal opportunities when we do. “Oh yes, I’d love to have your latest white paper.” The prospect says this while thinking, “Whatever it takes to get this guy off the phone.”
6. God gave us creativity and energy; now is the time for us to use it. The prospect has heard a million traditional cold calls. They don’t resonate with him or her right now (if they ever did).

Conclusion
Stand out from the crowd by being authentic. Provide your customers and prospects some room to think and respond to you. It’s an effective way to stop customer blocking tactics in a sales environment where the seller and the buyer both feel a sense of uncomfortable urgency.

Further reading:

• Get customer cooperation by “lowering your shields” [Post on opening up and being authentic with customers]

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Tags: collateral, competition, personality

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