Article - 80 Week 44 Can You Sell To A Total Stranger?

Article - 80  Week 44

Can You Sell To A Total Stranger?

We sell all the time. We buy all the time. That's unique to humans and we are hardwired that way. However, there is a big barrier created by our social culture or bonding. An extreme example ; The infamous cliches` that 'Money can not buy love'  and 'There is a price for every thing', stand opposed to each other. Volumes of fictions and movies have triumphantly taken on one or the other, captivating the mind of the people. The fact is, we find it easy to push hard bargains with perfect strangers, while we easily acquiesce to make concessions to known people. We sort of avoid bargaining with friends for material prices. We voluntarily give away without pre-conditions to the people we love. Even though there may be unsaid motives for getting some thing out of the other person whom we unconditionally give and the other person guesses it right, we can not call it a true Sale. If we try hinting anything to that effect, it would be a social disaster. Try paying for the birthday cake baked specially for you by your mother or sister!

Therefore, we have two distinct types of Sales - (A) Impersonal Sales (B) Social Sales or Gifts. In impersonal sales, it is a pure deal between demand and supply at that particular moment between the two individuals. Both the individuals are pushed to the edge of 'take it or leave it' point. Each individual consummately assesses the extent of compulsion of the other, while hiding his own vulnerability. Then you have the offers and the counters. Finally you have on the table, an objective price or subjective conditions to arrive at a price in a future date. Think of it. It is a big disadvantage to sell something to a stranger. So, if you are a salesman like me, you would better have many friends in your basket of clients. In other words, before you seriously attempt to sell what you set out to sell, you need to vigorously campaign to have as many friends as possible in the basket of clients in front of you. This is where, most of us go wrong. We start selling on our first meeting, struggling hard to hold on to our prices and other advantages. If we delay this until there is a personal relationship, then we can be far more effective. However, this should not be kept so late and subtle that it backfires - like those close friends of yours who chase you for those network-sales for herbals and shampoos. You run away from them or avoid taking their calls! You can not effectively sell to a completer stranger or a very close friend. Understanding that fine line in between is one of the essential keys to effective sales.

Brgds

Capt Rath