Everybody Sells, Everybody Influences

You’ve probably heard it said we’re selling all the time, every day. It may be a product, a service, an idea, your company, or yourself. Whatever it is, you’re trying to get people to buy or buy-in.

“Everybody sells” was our mantra at the insurance company where I worked for decades. My former boss and close friend, John Petrucci, revived that concept and infused it throughout the organization. The cultural belief was everybody had a hand in promoting our company. Done well, this would result in customers wanting to buy our insurance products, agents would want to represent our company, and people would want to work for the organization.

Seldom was money exchanged in those interactions, but there was a whole lot of persuasion taking place because, at its core, selling is persuading. As noted earlier, Brian Tracy hit the nail on the head when he said, “Selling is the process of persuading a person that your product or service is worth more to him or her than the price you’re asking.” That’s a great definition for selling so let’s break it down into its three core components:

Selling is a process. Too many people approach selling like they do most other things in life – they wing it, making it up as they go – rather than following a disciplined process. Unfortunately, winging it in life, business, or sales, seldom leads to optimal results.

Flexibility is an important skill in life, business, and sales because even the best laid plans go awry. Ex-heavyweight champ Mike Tyson famously said, “Everyone has a plan...until they get punched in the mouth.” When you take the proverbial punch in sales you need to be ready to pivot and respond.

As a student of improv comedy I’m all for creativity and improvising in the moment. You may not know this but even improv comedy has rules for creating great scenes and experiences for audiences. Perhaps the two best known improv rules are:

1. Yes, and… This rule teaches improv students to affirm one another’s ideas then build on them. When you do this you can create great things out of nothing more than an idea.
2. Make the other person look good. If each person in the improv group strives to give opportunities to others that are in their sweet spots then everyone can play to their strengths. Do this and everybody wins.

Improvising within those two simple rules leads to a better experience for the cast and audience. Likewise, understanding the sales process and thoughtfully maneuvering within it will create a better experience for the salesperson and prospective client.

Selling entails persuasion. Persuasion is more than changing hearts and minds. Those may be good first steps, but neither is enough if you don’t hear “Yes!” at the close of the sale. We’ll explore persuasion in-depth in the next chapter.

Selling is an exchange of value. We all value things differently. As a kid I collected baseball cards because I played Little League ball and looked up to the major league ball players. If you think about it, a baseball card is nothing more than a photograph with a baseball player’s statistics on the back. Despite that, some people are willing to pay thousands of dollars for certain cards because we all value things differently.

Think of value using this formula V = WIG / P. Value equals what I get divided by price. If you can get more insurance coverage for the same price that’s a better deal. Likewise, if you can get the same coverage limits but pay less, you feel like you’re getting a better deal. Value is all about what you get relative to what you pay. But make no mistake about it, value is about more than price and coverage. Some people place a premium on working with a local agent, for others outstanding claims service is the key, and for some it’s all about trusted relationships. It will be incumbent on you to determine what a prospect values as you ask questions throughout the sales process.

Everybody sells embodies the belief that we’re all selling every day. Once you understand this you begin approaching conversations differently because you realize everything you say and do matters. Make no mistake about it: persuasion is the heart of selling and comes into play in every step of the sales process. The more you understand how people think and behave, and the more you’re willing to incorporate that understanding into your communication, the more successful you will be.

If you like what you read and want to learn more about the intersection of influence and sales, click here to order your copy of Persuasive Selling.

Brian Ahearn

Brian Ahearn is the Chief Influence Officer at Influence PEOPLE and a faculty member at the Cialdini Institute. An author, TEDx presenter, international speaker, coach, and consultant, Brian helps clients apply influence in everyday situations to boost results.

As one of only a dozen Cialdini Method Certified Trainers in the world, Brian was personally trained and endorsed by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D., the most cited living social psychologist on the science of ethical influence.

Brian’s first book, Influence PEOPLE, was named one of the 100 Best Influence Books of All Time by Book Authority. Persuasive Selling for Relationship Driven Insurance Agents was an Amazon new release bestseller. The Influencer, is a business parable designed to teach you how to use influence in everyday situations.

Brian’s LinkedIn courses on persuasive selling and coaching have been viewed by over 750,000 people around the world and his TEDx Talk on pre-suasion has more than a million views!