While practising mindfulness the other night, my monkey mind was distracted when it heard Tamara Levitt (Head of Mindfulness for the fantastic Calm App) educate and inspire us in her Dolce way the practice of Kotsu-Kotsu. A Japanese phrase that when translated, means “step by step” or “experiencing every minute” We commonly refer to it as being in the moment or being present. It got me thinking, (which I know is not really what I was supposed to be doing!) around how important (in fact critical) it is in sales and what it means to me as a sales professional and advocate of authentic selling excellence.
Transactional selling and product pushing is undoubtedly a distant memory in the sales journey. The digital age and the introduction of AI mean that our clients are now more educated, have significantly more choices, and are not quite as forgiving or as loyal as in the past. They expect more than just a knowledgeable salesperson who knows the difference between a feature and a benefit. The new sales professional knows this and are authentic ambassadors, trustworthy, knowledgeable, and are focused on making meaningful connections that build long term relationships. They are “changemakers” who genuinely want to assist the client in making a change to a current problem or situation using their product or service offering. The client will be drawn to this naturally, and this is when the magic happens.
The magic certainly does not happen for the salesperson who focusses on their own goal and not that of their clients. Never is this more apparent than the “smile and dial” salesperson who is just picking up the phone for the sake of it. They are so focused on their dial numbers and probably trying to secure an appointment for a KPI target that they are not interested in a legitimate conversation. They have no real purpose or value, and the call generally ends up being cut short when the person at the receiving end runs out of time and patience and politely (or not so politely), declines with a “sorry I am not interested” or words to that effect!
The same applies to the salesperson who turns up to a face to face meeting having done no pre-preparation and who is also so focused on his or her own needs (which is in this situation is securing a sale) Their questions will be lacking in quality and quantity and their approach will be disconnected and as they are not taking time to be “present”. There will be no natural flow, no meaningfulness or genuine connection and the deal will undoubtedly be lost.
The solution is so simple it is ridiculous BE IN THE MOMENT! BE PRESENT! BE ENGAGED! LISTEN MORE SPEAK LESS! FORGET ABOUT YOUR OWN NEEDS AND GOALS AND FOCUS ON YOUR CLIENTS! BRING OUT YOUR KOTSU-KOTSU PLEASE!
In making these small changes you will be surprised on the impact this will make on your sales success.
I would love to hear your thoughts or stories on how the practice of “Sales Kotsu-Kotsu” has helped you.
Hope you are having a very purposeful day
#sellingwithpurpose
#creating authentic excellence