Shortly
after getting into sales way back in 1972, I ran across a crazy-fast-talking
sales trainer named Zig Ziglar. I listened to several tapes of him talking, and
after a while you could get up to his speed. He has street cred as they might
say now, because he began where I began and he excelled at what he did and
became a motivational guru for salespeople in any field.
I'll
never forget something that hit home with me. It was this: if you're selling a
product and don't own that product yourself, you can never be as convincing as
someone else who does. He began selling pots and pans and as a sales manager
suggested that if his own sales people didn't own them, they would have a
tougher time selling them.
But,
it goes deeper into belief in your own products, to belief in what you do, to
the belief the prospective client sees or does not see in your eyes. So, I
bought my own products that I was selling and usually have. Since I started in
auto sales, I bought new cars myself. I began in September 1972 and bought my
first new car in mid-1973. Back in those days we even had demos, so I didn't
have to buy one, but I wanted to so I could experience what a customer might
feel and experience and to demonstrate on the outside my inner belief in my own
product.
When
I became a sales manager a short time later, I always promoted the same idea
with my team. I used to hear new car sales people say that they don't buy new
cars because of how much they depreciate when you drive them out of the
showroom, so they buy late model used and save money. Do you suppose that
philosophy helps them sell new vehicles? Not. It might help them sell used
vehicles.
There
is nothing quite like the experience of buying a brand new car. Seeing the
odometer with less than 50 miles, smelling the inside, seeing everything
perfectly new, driving it and how it responds and sounds while driving. It is
special.
We
were consulting with a Chevy dealer recently and they had a sales manager that
went out and bought a new Honda Civic from a Honda dealership. I asked him why
he did that to satisfy my own curiosity. He said because it got such good
mileage, but at the time Chevy had so many models getting over 30mpg, so that
wasn't it. He just didn't care about where he worked or what he was doing and it
showed in his performance as well. His best bet would be to go sell
Honda's.
I
was in the car business for about 25 years and I've owned 11 new vehicles and
also bought several used cars and trucks.
I
was a Shaklee distributor and supervisor and worked that full time for two
years. I still use Shaklee products today 31 years after I stopped working it as
a business. Why? I believe in the products.
At
Upward Trend we sell the Trend Setter Package and we use the same exact package
for all of our own marketing. It only makes sense. We promote it because it
works for us. In fact, that's how we found that out.
Whatever
you might be selling, I suggest buying your own products when that makes sense
and supporting the people who employ you. In addition, I expect you will be a
far better spokesperson for the experience of your products and
services.
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