Soul Business blog 6: Stop selling, win buy in

24 Nov Soul Business blog 6: Stop selling, win buy in

Soul Business is an ethos to inspire and enable people, business and organisations to communicate better by connecting deeper.

There’s an over-blown belief that every business or organisation needs to be good at selling.

I don’t agree. I think knowing how to win buy-in is far more important.

Here’s an uncomfortable fact to add to the mix – we all like to buy, but no one likes to be sold to. How so?

Selling techniques matter and of course are relevant – but isn’t it easier if people already feel they know you and your business – not just what you do, but the way you do it and the values that drive it?

Winning buy-in isn’t just about customers. Sure customers are vital – and they can ‘always be right’, ‘come first’, ‘are king’, whichever way you want to see them.

But buy-in comes in many forms – if we can get people to buy in to our mission and vision – that may be to sell goods or services but also to win investment, find partners and suppliers or source employees and so on.

It is about connecting on many levels – using depth, value and meaning to communicate.

One of the great facets of Soul Business – connecting at a hearts and minds level – is that you instinctively seek to win buy in so it is integral to the way you do business – so selling is just an extension of this process.

If your temptation is to compete on lowest common denominators like price, compliance, speed – guess what? People will buy solely on those transient values.

Okay, you achieve a sale – but the chances are they have little loyalty as it will always be about factors like price so you need to keep regenerating (low) value to keep winning new clients.

You need to create a need – and make sure your messaging  is congruent with you being the person or business to supply and satisfy that desire.

Why do lots of in-depth connecting only to switch to sharper practice in the your sales techniques?

Building your reputation on meaningful characteristics like trust, integrity and ethics makes it far easier to sell.

People naturally buy in to what you do. They aren’t looking for bargain prices per se. Yes, you’ll still need to meet the criteria to achieve sales – and, yes, price and delivery and so forth are an integral part of that – but it’s about explaining how you do it, not just what you do… and making it personal.

Communicating and truly connecting has greater depth and value. It’s soul business, alright.

I’ll give you a classic example. On a freezing cold day, a well-known travel company recently sent an e-shot asking me to recall the feel of sunshine on my face and the sand between my toes.

Closing my eyes, I was able to imagine a past holiday and suddenly ached to be there again and book another holiday.

Note, they haven’t advised me where to go or offered a discount deal. I willingly went hunting for a holiday. Guess where my first port of call was? I clicked the link in front of me. It is about how you package a message.

The option to buy, the urge to fill a need, the message ‘spoke’ to me.

Sometimes, these can seem like marginal gains. But here’s another fact to ponder. If magic bullet marketing solutions promoted by supposed ‘gurus’ are guaranteed to work – why aren’t we all rolling in cash? Life – business – is not so simple. Taking the right steps to do the right things can be.

We just need to make winning buy in a primary force in the way we communicate.

Chris Green is an award-winning author and broadcaster – and managing partner of Chris Green Media – which inspires organisations to communicate better by connecting deeper.