The Ethos of Sales
How does a person succeed in the world of sales? There are a lot
of different things that add up to success, but one of them is
your ethos - the way you look to and are perceived by others.
Affecting this perception can greatly affect your chances of
making a sale.
To determine what you should do about this, you first need to
know what kind of image you want to project to others. What
industry are you trying to sell in? Each industry has its own
culture, and consumers are often different as well. For
instance, if you're target is primarily management at large
companies (for instance, for a network related product or
service or for consulting services) you're only going to sell by
promoting your own professionalism. You can't come off as
anything other than knowledgeable and good at business - they
want to buy from someone who they can trust to succeed in that
atmosphere. By contrast, if you are selling industrial products
to the construction industry, that approach might cause you to
fall flat on your face. If your main customers are tough, hardy
construction foremen, they don't want to buy pipes or metal from
someone who doesn't get their nails dirty. They want someone
from the trenches, who knows about the way the business really
works, and a guy in a suit won't do it for them. You'll have to
figure out for yourself what people want in your own industry -
when people buy from you, you're selling yourself just as much
as the product.