Mastering the World of Selling: The Ultimate Training Resource from the Biggest Names in Sales

Chapter 60. The "Book Yourself Solid" Simple Selling System

Michael Port

Enough with the tragic pithy sales prose that is supposed to say something meaningful, but is devoid of any true message, such as "Think outside the box" or "Let's make this a win-win." Or, my personal favorite (imagine this being voiced in an amusing yet slightly cheesy late-night infomercial style), "People hate to be sold, but they love to buy."

Customers can sniff out these cliche sales phrases and tactics from a mile away. They detest them. All people really want to do is to express their values. Plain and simple. After all, isn't that what they are doing every time they reach in their pocket to buy something?

Look at it this way. If you saw a hefty casino tab, Smirnoff bottle service delivery charges, and a Hummer lease payment on my Amex statement, you'd know what I value. However, if my charges included yoga sessions, continuing education in MIT's Birthing of Giants program, and the compost for my backyard vegetable garden, you'd get a different sense of my values.

People don't buy because you want them to. And rarely do they buy because of a sales pitch or something clever you said to convince them.

So if we're kicking the old sales cliches to the curb, then what other options do we have? If you really want to increase sales, first, you've got to earn the proportionate amount of trust required to make the sale. But, how is trust really built? Through commitment making and fulfilling. You make commitments ...