It’s the most wonderful scary time of the year! Are you ready for the skeletons, jack-o-lanterns, ghouls, and goblins? And no, we’re not just talking about your in-laws as we head into the holiday season! Fall is most definitely our favorite season (you know, Orange Leaf and all…), and we love Halloween. We often joke that of all the scary things people dress up as a salesperson is never on the list. Why is that? Because despite the stigma, sales is nothing to be afraid of! But despite our efforts to help people see that sales is a life skill, not just a business skill, we still find folks who are scared of the word and practice of ‘sales.’ Whether you’re a marketing firm, an insurance company, a restaurant or a retail store, if you’re not positioning your business as a sales organization, you’re way overdue for a mindset shift.
Where does this fear of sales come from?
Sales is an experience. One that many of us have seen the rotten side of. From pushy salespeople laying on the pressure to being bombarded with calls, emails, and even texts, there are a whole lot of bad practices out there. Having experienced those interactions can make us fear the discipline of sales altogether. We don’t want to turn into the scary salespeople we dread interacting with. From the clerk at the perfume counter to countless retail emails, we’re actually gearing up to be sold to a lot more in the coming weeks. So pay attention to what tactics work and don’t work on you personally.
At Orange Leaf Consulting, we take a different approach to sales (check out our methodology here). To us, sales is not a scary word because it’s about helping people. That’s how you start to shift the mindset and reposition your organization to be a sales organization. When you get to know your prospects and clients by actively listening to their needs, you can help problem-solve with your product/services.
Are you losing money?
If you are not embracing sales, you’re actually leaving business on the table. We believe that Every Job Is a Sales Job and that every person is actually a salesperson. We just had someone share a recent success story that is living proof! A Marketing Project Manager was recently on a new client call discussing the marketing strategy project they’re kicking off. She recalled that the client doesn’t have a marketing team and heard them mention that social media efforts have been tabled.
So, in trying to learn more about the client, she asked if social media is something they’d be interested in reviving—a service her company offers. And just like that, a Project Manager is working to upsell a current client on a new project. Even though ‘sales’ is not in her job title and her firm has a new biz director, she is still using sales to 1. help earn new business and 2. solve a problem for the client. No tacky or pushy methods were needed…she simply offered their help where needed.
This is an example of how everyone in your organization has an impact on the bottom line. From the receptionist to the CEO, every employee should be a walking, talking advertisement for your business. Even if they’re talking to their friends/family about what they do at work, they are selling your business every day. You never know who could become your next employee or client. You want them to have a great perception of your business. This is why we teach the importance of not only branding for your business but also personal branding.
The Scary Truth
People used to work for the same company for 30+ years and take great pride in their place of employment. Times have changed, and now we consider our work a “job” instead of a career. People leave for a great number of reasons, including more money and even inter-departmental conflict. Sorry to scare you with the truth. Most of these reasons can be traced back to poor management and lack of training from leadership. When leadership isn’t investing in training and coaching to show people how to succeed (and sell), the business loses revenue, and people forget how to work with each other, leading to low employee retention.
But, when your team is armed with a plan and resources, sales is nothing to be spooked by. In fact, it can be your organization’s most useful superpower, differentiating you from the ghoulish competition. With a strategic approach to sales training, you can finish the year off with a bang and get a leg up on next year. This is part of why we LOVE what we do! We get to work with organizations to help them empower their people to embrace their inner sales witch or sales wizard. So, as you prepare for an even more successful 2025, remember that we’re here to help with guidance and support every step of the way. Sales is nothing to be afraid of…not having sales…now THAT is downright scary!
Grow Big or Go Home!®