The One Selling Principle and the 8 Selling Myths
The single sale principle states that:
“People buy when a compelling need is met with a credible solution that offers perceived value.”
Simple. Too easy? Well, as Jim Collins states in his book Good to Great, “Freud, Darwin, and Einstein had one thing in common. They took a complex world and simplified it.” And single-principle sellers do just that. They understand that selling doesn’t have to be complicated. They just make it easy for a customer to buy.
It is one of the two things they have in common. They are focused on the customer, not sales.
The other thing that single principle salespeople have in common is that they never follow the 8 selling myths. Simply never.
The 8 Sales Myths were taught by well-meaning sales managers, eager to pass on the wisdom and knowledge that their sales managers had passed on to them. However, as a sect, no one had questioned whether they were true. The 8 myths may have worked in their day, but they just don’t work today.
Do you remember how you felt when you discovered that there was actually no Santa Claus? I remember it well. It was December 12, 1971, and my (so-called) best friend Johnny Harrison broke the fateful news to me through a Curly Wurly. I felt like I had been cheated on. You don’t question what they told you when you were a child; just believe it to be true.
Well, that was also what I felt the day I discovered that everything I had been taught up to that point in sales was a complete lie; all the myths. They were theories that had no substance in the modern world.
Walk up to most sales floors and you’ll see the 8 selling myths proudly displayed on the wall (probably next to the lens and ‘Inspiration’ poster):
“Attitude sets altitude”
“People buy people”
“Always be closing”
“Clients like to talk about themselves”
“It’s a numbers game”
“Sell the sizzle, not the sausage”
“Money talks”
“Don’t plan, plan to fail”
Be honest, you believe in at least half of the 8 myths yourself, don’t you? You are not alone.
Most marketers will cite them as the “sales gospel.” Suggest that they are myths and they will think you have lost your mind.
On the surface, the 8 myths seem perfectly reasonable. In fact, within a picture frame, each one seems positively motivating. And I’m sure they made a lot of sense at the time. But things change. And so has the sale.
Myth 1: Always be closing
If you need to use closing techniques to get a sale, you clearly haven’t proven that your product meets your needs. Instead of forcing the customer to make a decision they will regret, simply go back to where you lost it in the buying process and start over from there. If you apply the Single Sales Principle® you do not need to close … the customer should ask you to buy.
Myth 2: Attitude sets altitude.
Abraham Lincoln asked the question: “How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling the tail a leg does not make it a leg.” As much as you look in the mirror and tell yourself ‘you’re a tiger’, it won’t work if you don’t believe in your product.
The better the value proposition, the better the attitude of a salesperson. Single-principle marketers make sure they have a deep and genuine belief in their value proposition.
Myth 3: people buy people
People buy when the product / service profitably meets the customer’s needs. No amount of chatting with a customer will make up for a poor product mix.
Being nice is, of course, important in sales. But isn’t it important in all vocations? Friendly plumbers are more pleasant to deal with than hostile plumbers. Friendly bus drivers are more pleasant to deal with than hostile bus drivers. Friendly lawyers are more pleasant to deal with than hostile lawyers (unless they are on your team, of course!) Ken Hubbard, the American writer said, “Beauty is superficial, but it is a valuable asset if you are poor or you are in a shelter “. It has no common sense! “
In good times and bad, salespeople used their charm (‘beauty’) to cover up this lack of a credible solution (‘common sense’). Today’s professional buyer can see through that. It is what is underneath that counts most.
Myth 4: Clients like to talk about themselves.
We have sat through thousands of sales calls. Some were good. Some were bad. And some were downright ugly. The bad ones were those in which the seller does not ask any questions. They are thrown at its features and benefits without considering what the buyer may actually need.
And then there were the ugly calls. The salesperson knew they had to do a data search and get as much information about the customer as possible. So they launched into a ‘Spanish inquisition’, making a list of nonsensical questions that only bore the customer.
Yes, there is a certain amount of information that must be identified in a sales intervention, since without it it is difficult to make a recommendation and know if the opportunity is worth fighting for. But all of this is for your benefit, not for them. Needs drive sales, not customer bios.
Myth 5: It’s a numbers game
Average salespeople go a long way by putting in long hours and running around contacting a lot of people. Then they send ‘ghost forecasts’; Overly optimistic sales projections based on a series of proposals that never turn into real business. This is because the needs identified in the sales call were not pressing needs.
Having a need does not mean that the customer will act on it. Many of the offers in a seller’s pipeline remain unclosed because the customer keeps procrastinating. Playing the numbers game does not help them generate more sales. It just creates more work for them and everyone around them.
The single-principle salesperson makes sure the needs are compelling before presenting the solution. Why? Because only then are they assured that the customer will be motivated to act.
Myth 6: Sell the sizzle, not the sausage
We love the concept of making presentations sizzle. Our problem with the ‘sell the sizzle’ myth is how marketers think they can fool a customer with fancy presentations that are highly visible but unsubstantial.
At first glance, ‘selling the sizzle’ seems to make perfect sense. Sausage sizzling on a griddle is much more likely to sell than raw sausage in the refrigerator. But this is because the sizzle ignited your senses and drew attention to the fact that you are hungry. The sizzle met her overriding need.
Have you ever smelled a sizzling hot dog when you have food poisoning? It would probably make you feel even worse. This is because this time your need is not hunger. In fact, food is the last thing you need.
Myth 7: money talks
Listen to buyers and you would think they really believe that money talks. Buyers are a brutal species, delighting in making a seller sweat over the price. They trick them into thinking it’s all about cost, and if the seller doesn’t lower their price, they’ll find a supplier who will. In fact, some buyers actually believe in this hype.
But customers really want value, not the cheapest price. If people wanted cheap, we’d all be driving 10-year-old cars and shopping at charity stores. Products are only perceived as expensive if the customer does not appreciate the value. You will never lose a deal on the price, just the value.
Myth 8: Don’t plan, plan to fail
Salespeople tend to fall into two camps: those who plan too much and those who barely plan.
Those who plan too much tend to be ‘busy fools’, that is, running around doing too little. When we go out with these salespeople on calls they show us all the planning they have done: a tour of the customer’s website; previous history; a list of questions to ask; competitor information, etc. The problem is, they don’t even refer to it.
The second type are salespeople who plan very little. In fact, most sellers fall into this category. You might be surprised to learn that single-principle sellers do, too.
“Hurrah!” I hear the cry of the general sales community. “What? Don’t you need to plan?” Not quite!
Peter Drucker, the management guru, defined the difference between ‘effectiveness’ and ‘efficiency’ as:
“Efficiency is doing the right things; efficiency is doing the right things.”
Single Principle Salespeople are effective because they identify the right things to do. This is why they often work fewer hours than the average artist.
Cartoonist Doug Larson said of time management: “For disappearing acts, it’s hard to beat what happens with the eight hours that are supposedly left after eight hours of sleep and eight hours of work.” I think we can all empathize with this feeling. Life is too short to plan for her sake.
Summary of the 8 sales myths
Winston Churchill said, “Out of intense complexities, simplicities arise.” Selling has become a complicated business. But it does not have to be like that. Simple is good.
And that’s why great salespeople follow the Single Selling Principle®. By focusing on matching pressing needs with credible solutions that offer perceived value, you will be successful in the sale. We guarantee it. Follow the 8 myths and you will be frustrated and disillusioned with our wonderful profession.
Original article written by Mark Blackmore (Lammore MD)
For more information on the ‘One Selling Principle’ sales training program, please contact:
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