If You Love It, You Can Sell It

In Sunday’s New York Times, there was an article about the new cover of Paris Vogue. One of the quotes by "Andre J" caught my eye and got me thinking.

He said, “If you love it, you can sell it.” While he may not be a business guru, Watts Wacher, the futurist is and he concurs as he thinks: “The single most important thing is if you don’t believe in it, don’t even try to sell it.”

How important do you think it is to be passionate about/believe in/ “love” the product you sell?

Let me know what you think!

Linda Richardson,
Founder Richardson Sales Training

Quote:

Originally Posted by richsales

In Sunday’s New York Times, there was an article about the new cover of Paris Vogue. One of the quotes by "Andre J" caught my eye and got me thinking.

He said, “If you love it, you can sell it.” While he may not be a business guru, Watts Wacher (sic), the futurist is and he concurs as he thinks: “The single most important thing is if you don’t believe in it, don’t even try to sell it.”

How important do you think it is to be passionate about/believe in/ “love” the product you sell?

Let me know what you think!

Linda Richardson,
Founder Richardson Sales Training

I agree with Wacker on that. And, Linda, you do use the correct word here. It is about passion.

Right, right, right - there has to be passion and belief and a commitment to it which is an intention and extension of passion. BUT why do so many people who truly have passion and belief (and motivation) still not achieve success? What's the connection among passion, belief and execution (motivation in action) and sale's success?

MitchM

Belief in Your Product is important to give a good value-building presentation based on their needs; because it encourages enthusiasm, and eliminates doubt.

I think if you take the time to "Love" your client... that is give them warm, inviting service; they will want to do business with you.

Relationship with the Client, Value and Desire/Need for the Product, and a Confident, IInviting "I Can" attitude in the salesperson seem to build the triple-braided cord that is hard to break on the way to a completed transaction.

I basically agree that it is important to be passionate about the products and services we sell. I wholeheartedly believe in the services of my company.

But I also know people who are extraordinarily successful who don't necessarily care for the product/service they sell very much. They just love selling so (the interaction with clients, the opportunities for income, the hunt of new business, etc.) and they're so good at it, so they just keep on doing it, in spite of being indifferent about their own products.

There's also another perspective on this, and that is that successful salespeople help others meet their needs. That's what's important. If you sell clothing, can you sell a line of times that you think is ugly? Sure, if your customers like them. If you are a landscape designer, can you include plantings you don't like in a customer's design? Sure. Can you sell sedans if you prefer pick-ups? Sure.

What's most important is a prospect who lights up because they want what we sell, either on their own or because we helped them get to that point. So I think being passionate about identifying and speaking to prospects needs' can be a viable substitute for being passionate about a particular product or service.

"What's most important is a prospect who lights up because they want what we sell, either on their own or because we helped them get to that point. So I think being passionate about identifying and speaking to prospects needs' can be a viable substitute for being passionate about a particular product or service." - Skip

You know I'm not much into "helping them get to that point" Skip, BUT everything else you posted in what I just quoted we can agree on.

MitchM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MitchM

"What's most important is a prospect who lights up because they want what we sell, either on their own or because we helped them get to that point. So I think being passionate about identifying and speaking to prospects needs' can be a viable substitute for being passionate about a particular product or service." - Skip

You know I'm not much into "helping them get to that point" Skip, BUT everything else you posted in what I just quoted we can agree on.

MitchM

That's good news, MitchM.

I think our fellow bloggers have shared a lot of wisdom. Those of us who do what we love whether it is selling, meeting the needs of a client, or feeling passionate about the product we sell are the lucky ones. I think these three things are intertwined in so many ways. If we can sell what we believe in, if we can find fulfillment in helping clients achieve their objectives, and or if we love being out there competing, we can have rewarding careers -- as a friend of mine said we can both “do good and do well”. And all together is the icing on the cake!

Best, Linda

I would add that you can also consider:

- Do you like the people you are selling to?
- Do you like your company/the people you work with
- Do you like the way you sell (maybe you believe deep inside that it should be a better way...)

By the way, I really don't believe a salesperson who don't own the product he sell or didn't gain a benefit from it.

For example, few months ago I had an interview for a sales position for a company that sold real estate/stock investment seminar.

The interview went well unless I asked to the manager:

"How much money did you made in the real state or the stock market last year?"

The guy was totally shocked and outraged I would ask this question.

But quiet frankly what is the credibility of a company if the people who worked there didn't use or gain benefit from the product/services they sold?

Don't trust a salesperson who don't own his products or services!

The word in the quote is "believe" not "love". And, in this sales trainer's opinion, that is for good reason.

If we polled the sales people of the English speaking world I think we would have trouble finding many who loved their product. But we would hind the great majority who believed in it.

When I speak to people I speak with passion and belief. That 'essence' is in what I say - as the old adage inadequately describes; "it is not what you say but how you say it!"

You can LOVE the feeling of closing new business, of accomplishment, of attaining your goals and you should love these things. But that does not mean I love the real estate property I sold or the increase in efficiency I sold or the ROI through Government Credits for Research and Development (my own company qualified for $66,000 - imagine how big some of the credits will be) I sold. Nor did I love any of the 5 million in copiers I sold ...

I have sold big time contracts and small deals and I can say that I feel very little for what my client now has that I represented, with a few exceptions. However, I believed in my heart ... no I believed wholeheartedly that what I represented was the best possible product/service for my clients and that they got terrific value and I can tell you that if I did not beleive 100% in what I was sellign I would have been far less effective.

No, love is not the right word. You have to "believe" and be "committed" but you do not have to love your product. In fact, in most cases, it is your client that needs to love it, not you.

If You Love It, You Can Sell It

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