When sales aren’t working it’s the first question you should ask yourself…
There I was, sitting in the Courtyard Marriot conference room in Newburgh, NY, a guest at a meeting of a local MLM** group, feeling confident in my basic purpose to help people with wellness, secure in it being my life’s work, having been invited by someone who insisted I attend and find out about the company after having learned that I work with and had a personal network of thousands of chiropractors.
Except, all the while and despite my “guest prospect” status, I was yet being made to feel like a chump for doing what I do when, instead, I could be “living off of residual income” in amounts far greater than I was already making.
Listen to the audio version of this article here:
No one could seem to understand why I couldn’t get interested in the products this company sold, (instantly, having just found out about them) and wouldn’t immediately jump on board as a distributor, interested in making more money than I could waste as the sole appeal.
Talk about a breakdown in prospecting. But more on that in a minute…
Now, you would think that would be enough to get me to leave. And I would have been completely disinterested and left except for the fact that they had a Diamond-level distributor there from neighboring Eastern Connecticut as the keynote speaker, off whom I couldn’t take my attention.
It was the only thing that made the meeting tolerable.
Now, outside of the fact that, if you’re interested in me for your MLM because of my connections, it would be absurd to then browbeat me for being a schlep for running a successful enterprise, passionately, on my own, to get me, by some twisted if misguided logic, interested in your group. This was not just a prospecting and sales error of the cardinal kind but a total reversal of everything it means to properly sell.
Yet this woman spoke and I listened, interestedly. I looked around. I observed.
And I learned something very valuable which had nothing to do with their business (or mine) per se, a lesson I would take with me and would be a valuable addition to my skill set.
It was a lesson in motivation, passion and purpose and a lesson that is the make-break between making it and not in any business anywhere!
What I learned from sellers who “sold out” on their own purpose…
What did I learn from this one particular meeting and presentation?
Well, it wasn’t what an amazing business it was, nor was it how I could make killer money at it (as I had been told repeatedly by my colleague who brought me there).
And it wasn’t just about this very influential speaker who held my attention and everyone in the room (including the people who were already involved in the business).
It was about the difference between her and my colleague and all the other “lower on the totem pole” reps that were in attendance.
You see, I was riveted at hearing her speak, much the way I am at some of these “Real Estate With No Money Down” seminars I speak about having attended in my audio training recording “Stop Pitching and Make Way More Sales” where I attend them, not because I am interested in real estate or better income, but to see the master sellers at work, learning their methods for free and getting a free lunch to boot!
But it quickly became clear, in looking around the room, that the others were riveted too, only for vastly different reasons.
What I observed and concluded was that they were looking for some trade secret to slip out as she spoke, something they could latch onto that would get them into her league as, indeed, they were QUITE out of her league.
They continued to just stare and listen in awe of her. I really took notice of this. They were drinking in every word and had forgotten all about the guests they had brought.
But, no secret sales technique would ever explain it, despite how many times they heard her speak.
It wasn’t her magic closing lines or charisma that made her a top seller for the company. Sure, they were assets. But it was her passion, her commitment and, most importantly, her PURPOSE!
And that was what I immediately observed to be the difference between HER and THEM, and between MYSELF and THEM: PURPOSE.
She had the same passion for what she does as I have for what I do.
She was selling her PURPOSE and I was busy selling MINE. And the others?
Well, they were SELLING OUT on theirs!
What’s the difference between a sales giant and a sales failure?
Now, in true ME style, I got a lot of bang out of having attended this meeting with an organization I ended up having no interest in joining. As insulting as it got (and their pitch really was along the lines of “you’re a chump”), I left considering it a valuable investment of my time.
I made a few prospects of my own. (I’m always looking wherever I interact!) I ended up with some great story-telling material (I’m a storyteller from way back, in case you haven’t noticed lol) I even got some online content written about the experience, including an article, an open letter to Chiropractors, to reject MLM products and instead, hack that model for their own practices. (one of my most famous articles yet!)
And then there was this takeaway lesson: PURPOSE!
What I learned that day not only forwarded my sales ability into the stratosphere but helped me debug so many others as well. I was able to really see what it not only took to sell successfully but the most basic element blocking anyone.
I realized there are no bad sellers ANYWHERE.
There are just “SELLER-OUTERS” who are trying to “sell” things that have nothing to do with their basic purpose. And that is the worst kind of criminal selling (in my opinion) there is.
It’s basically insincere (if only to yourself) which, of course, comes across that way to others.
How do you know if you’re a sales giant or a giant sell-out?
The woman who spoke at the MLM meeting? She talked about how much she LOVED the products of the company, what they had done for her and how much she adores the company itself and what they’re about. It was about as genuine as it gets.
The only thing I insisted upon at the conclusion of the meeting was that someone get me on the phone with HER and her only, that this was the only way I would even consider getting on board.
She graciously obliged and did a call with me a few days later.
Not surprisingly, she wasn’t pushy, nor did she in any way think less of me for what I do, my purpose, my plans or anything about me and my organization. If anything, she treated me as a respected colleague and I didn’t at all feel like a prospect.
Some would say it’s because she was so high up she had nothing to gain. But I learned a different thing that day. Her attitude toward me is what got her to those heights.
Everyone else was looking for a shortcut.
And there is your difference. If something is your purpose, sales are effortless and people want to be involved who are like-minded. And you attract them regularly.
If your sales are anything less than that, now you’re talking about selling out.
What specifically are you selling out on?
That’s entirely up to you and who you are as an individual.
I bring it down to one question: Who are you really?
That leads to further self-inspection. What is it you want to accomplish? What did you always want to offer the world?
And, those are the easy questions!
The hard questions?
Beyond that, you have to look at what you’re doing and selling now and measure it up against what you found out about yourself.
Honestly, this is the most vital yet overlooked part of sales of any product anywhere.
And it is the difference between selling and selling out!
Watch for my featured upcoming audio training and transcript “Selling Out Selling On Purpose” coming soon!
**If you don’t know what MLM is, it’s short for “Multi-Level Marketing” and is an organization that sells products via a network of direct salespeople who earn commissions on the product and those they recruit to sell product “underneath” them.
