Comments on: Diffusing awkward sales moments by “over-reaching and retreating” http://www.scrollinondubs.com/2006/01/30/diffusing-awkward-sales-moments-by-overreaching-and-retreating/ Sean Tierney's Blog Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:58:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.5 By: Scrollin’ On Dubs » Blog Archive » The secret to chicken and egg problems: bend one of the flaps http://www.scrollinondubs.com/2006/01/30/diffusing-awkward-sales-moments-by-overreaching-and-retreating/comment-page-1/#comment-80502 Scrollin’ On Dubs » Blog Archive » The secret to chicken and egg problems: bend one of the flaps Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:33:45 +0000 #comment-80502 [...] I used to sell cutlery. It was my first job one summer while I was in college. The trouble with selling anything for the first time is that it’s obvious when you’ve never sold anything- confidence comes only from making sales. Once you’ve sold, it becomes infinitely easier to sell again, but getting that first sale is the hardest thing ever. I’d say 70% of the people that were in our group dropped out without getting a single sale. Having never held a job at that point (let alone a sales position) I was not confident. But I was fortunate in that I lucked out with quick initial wins in pitching wealthy people that either happened to need a new set of $700 knives or people that were just sympathetic with how green I was and bought out of sheer pity for my pitch. Whatever the reason for those first couple sales, I went on to sell over $3k of cutlery in my first week driven by the confidence I could sell. And I’m convinced that the secret sauce to that whole equation was a simple bit of advice from my sales manager, Don Gerould: “Fake it until you make it.” Not “fake it” in the sense of “mislead others” but mentally trick yourself into believing you have successfully sold before until you have actually done it and the feeling becomes substantiated by reality. [...] [...] I used to sell cutlery. It was my first job one summer while I was in college. The trouble with selling anything for the first time is that it’s obvious when you’ve never sold anything- confidence comes only from making sales. Once you’ve sold, it becomes infinitely easier to sell again, but getting that first sale is the hardest thing ever. I’d say 70% of the people that were in our group dropped out without getting a single sale. Having never held a job at that point (let alone a sales position) I was not confident. But I was fortunate in that I lucked out with quick initial wins in pitching wealthy people that either happened to need a new set of $700 knives or people that were just sympathetic with how green I was and bought out of sheer pity for my pitch. Whatever the reason for those first couple sales, I went on to sell over $3k of cutlery in my first week driven by the confidence I could sell. And I’m convinced that the secret sauce to that whole equation was a simple bit of advice from my sales manager, Don Gerould: “Fake it until you make it.” Not “fake it” in the sense of “mislead others” but mentally trick yourself into believing you have successfully sold before until you have actually done it and the feeling becomes substantiated by reality. [...]

]]> By: lizbiz http://www.scrollinondubs.com/2006/01/30/diffusing-awkward-sales-moments-by-overreaching-and-retreating/comment-page-1/#comment-53176 lizbiz Thu, 31 May 2007 17:52:41 +0000 #comment-53176 Loved your entry.. its funny though, because I am selling Cutco now to pay for college, etc... and I am in NC! Funny, I know quite well the "you want HOW MANY PHONE NUMBERS??" I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who has had some great forever career-building marketing and sales experience from this company! Loved your entry.. its funny though, because I am selling Cutco now to pay for college, etc… and I am in NC! Funny, I know quite well the “you want HOW MANY PHONE NUMBERS??” I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one who has had some great forever career-building marketing and sales experience from this company!

]]> By: Sam http://www.scrollinondubs.com/2006/01/30/diffusing-awkward-sales-moments-by-overreaching-and-retreating/comment-page-1/#comment-44356 Sam Sat, 05 May 2007 02:31:39 +0000 #comment-44356 Sean, I'm thoroughly enjoying checking out your site. Your feed is in my Google Reader as of 10 minutes ago. Great thoughts here on marketing. Funny, I sold Cutco here in NC when I was a teen. Kind regards, Sam Sean, I’m thoroughly enjoying checking out your site. Your feed is in my Google Reader as of 10 minutes ago. Great thoughts here on marketing. Funny, I sold Cutco here in NC when I was a teen.

Kind regards,
Sam

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