Jeweller - May 2019

MARKETING & PR
SALES TIPS YOU CAN APPLY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
THE KEY SKILLS AND INSIGHTS OF THE SALESPERSON AREN’T JUST LIMITED TO THE SHOP FLOOR; THEY CAN ALSO HELP
YOU NAVIGATE TRICKY SOCIAL SITUATIONS AND UNCERTAIN INTERACTIONS OUTSIDE OF WORK, WRITES SUE BARRETT.
Humans are social animals who need
to engage with others in some way in
order to be able to live effectively and have
a meaningful existence.
I didn’t know, I said, “Hi, I’m your neighbour
from up the street. We have an abundance
of fresh plums we cannot use and I was
wondering if you would like to have some?”
Whether you’re a salesperson or not, there
are times in your daily life when knowing
how to sell can turn an awkward situation
into a positive one.
THE FEAR OF REJECTION
Consider the new school year as an
example. There are often many new faces
and new people to meet across the year.
Whether you want to or not, you will
find yourself in new situations. These
could include setting up play dates for
your children, welcoming new neighbours
into your community, forming a parent
group, meeting your child’s teachers
and so on.
For some, social scenarios like these are
second nature but not everyone finds
these types of tasks easy to do.
Some parents might even consider it
daunting. What if you arrange a playdate
between two children and the other
parent says no?
People don’t like to be rejected, which is
why it can be intimidating to break into a
new tribe.
But as it turns out, igniting new social
relationships is just like setting up new
client relationships at work.
Both raise various questions and fear in
our minds such as how do I get accepted?
How do I make a good impression? How
do I get along with these people? How
do I build a trusting relationship with them,
going forward?
All of these tasks require us to know how
to plan, prospect, enquire, understand
others and find ways to engage in
meaningful exchanges for the purpose
of making a strong connection.
PEOPLE DON’T
LIKE TO BE
REJECTED, WHICH
IS WHY IT CAN
BE INTIMIDATING
TO BREAK INTO
A NEW TRIBE –
BUT AS IT TURNS
OUT, IGNITING
NEW SOCIAL
RELATIONSHIPS IS
JUST LIKE SETTING
UP NEW CLIENT
RELATIONSHIPS
AT WORK
MEETING A NEW PERSON IS JUST LIKE A SALE
STRANGERS TO FRIENDS
Let me share a specific example to
illustrate my point. Recently I was
harvesting our annual crop of plums. It
has been a good season and we have
harvested around 30kg.
What we normally like to do is make
a pflaumenmus, which is plum butter,
and we also preserve the plums; however,
given previous harvests, we had more
than enough produce already.
We didn’t need to cook anything this year
but we also didn’t want to have these
delicious plums go to waste.
I devised a plan – I would take some excess
plums door-to-door and offer them to my
neighbours for free, some of whom I know
well and others whom I do not know.
Have you ever tried to go door-to-door
selling something? It’s not easy, even if
what you have won’t cost them anything.
People can be wary because they are
caught off guard; they’re wondering who
you are and what you want.
To address this and before I left for my plum
distribution drive, I developed my VBR or
valid business reason for calling on them.
It went something like this: to people
Immediately everyone knew why I was
there and what I was offering.
When they said yes to the offer, I instructed
them to get a large bowl so I could give
them plenty of plums.
To people I did know, I said the same thing
except I used their names. ,
“Hi [person’s name], we have an abundance
of fresh plums we cannot use and I was
wondering if you would like to have some?”
I managed to visit 12 houses, which
took me three hours because, besides
distributing my plums, I got to have
some wonderful conversations with
my neighbours.
I even got some corn and chillies in return
and it was a lovely way to spend a Saturday
afternoon.
STRANGERS TO FRIENDS
There are real skills involved here –
knowing how to introduce yourself;
helping people to quickly understand
why you are there; giving neighbours
a choice to say yes or no; being open,
friendly and welcoming.
All of these were integral to the success
of the venture but having a clear plan and
the right intentions made the biggest
difference, helping me to build all sorts of
relationships in the community. i
SUE BARRETT is founder
and managing director of
sales advisory, consulting
and education firm Barrett.
barrett.com.au
May 2019 Jeweller 39