Persuasion Article No16

Selling Allergies

Hi,

I’ve been sick for about the last six weeks.
I hope it did not show through in my writing.

I had a throat infection for about a week.
I have only just found out that my problem for the last five weeks has been an allergy.
Which was really surprising since I was not sneezing, nor did I have watery, itchy eyes like I normally do when I suffer from hay fever.

And that got me thinking.
Persuasion Article No16

OK. How does this relate to sales ?

Well I’d like to ask what part, or parts, of the sales process are you allergic to ?
Do you love getting face-to-face with a client but hate cold calling or prospecting ?
Do you have to pluck up your courage every time you need to meet someone face-to-face ?
Are you lousy at getting organised ?
Do you know why you react this way ?
And how real is the problem ?
Persuasion Article No16

I would suggest that if you are feeling bad and encountering problems in the sales process that maybe you are not the most appropriate person to diagnose the problem much less prescribe a cure.

In fact, that’s one of the most interesting things about an allergy, the person suffering from the allergy is often not aware of the problem.
People can be allergic to milk for years before they learn they have lactose intolerance.

Now, that’s really interesting from a sales perspective.

How do you know about the allergies in your sales persona ?

The other interesting thing about an allergy is that they can often be easily cured.
In my case, a few days on antihistamine was all I need to feel much, much better.

Let’s not forget that some allergies can be lethal.
People can die from a mere bee sting !
Persuasion Article No16

• A sales allergy can be lethal to your sales success
• You may not even know that you have a sales allergy
• It is easy to misdiagnose your own allergy
• There is a simple solution if you diagnose correctly.

So, I would like to suggest that you get help to determine if you have a sales allergy, what that allergy is and what the solution might be.
A sales coach could offer this sort of advice.

You need someone who can look at your sales process and see when you start to sweat or fumble.
Someone who can cut through the symptoms and diagnose the cause of your allergy, and even more importantly prescribe a simple cure.

You could hire a professional sales coach or partner with an experienced person you respect at work and get them to accompany you on some sales calls.

Either way, don’t leave the diagnosis and prescription to yourself, I did and I was needlessly sick for four weeks.

Here's to YourSalesSuccess.