Changes Coming to Bennett's Blog

More on Being a "Positive Skeptic"

The Positive Skeptic mindset is one I recommend not only for salespeople when we're dealing with a prospect, but also for when we're reviewing opportunities we have in the pipeline. (PSST...This also applies to you sales managers;  you too need to learn to become more of a positive skeptic as you listen to sellers try to sell YOU on how good an opportunity looks.)

Here are some quick bullets to make this point:

• Being a positive skeptic means we don't become Hopeless Romantics when we think about what just happened when we exit a client's office after a meeting...I think it's more helpful to walk around saying "He's at a NO right now...only because he's not at a YES...there are reasons he's at a NO, and I need to find those reasons and either solve them, or move on"....
• Being a positive skeptic means we don't sugar coat things when our manager asks us to forecast opportunities we may have in the pipeline.  I know we tend to build things up and report them at a higher percentage of close than they really are (WHAT?  PEOPLE DO THAT???), but that form of delusion is a deadly game that leads first to self-delusion, then delusion up the line from your manager...to her manager...to his manager...to the people on top.  Why not down play where things are and work harder to realistically get them in a more positive position?
• Being a positive skeptic as a manager means not blindly falling in love with what your sellers try to sell you...be positive, upbeat, friendly, but be skeptical -- ask for proof of action not emotions or feelings.  You're not teaching your sellers anything if when they return from a sales call, you buy their "The client is interested in doing something...at some point..with some one"  ...you teach them by asking "That's great young seller...now what actions did the client take to show you they are indeed this interested?"

Positive Skeptic is a revolutionary and revitalizing concept for sellers, managers, and entire sales organizations...do you buy into it?  Show me what actions you're taking to prove that...

 

Positive Skeptic vs Hopeless Romantic -- Which Would You Rather Be? (Psst...the Wrong Choice Could Get You Killed)

Before I get cranked up...why haven't you joined my LinkedIn Group called "The Bennett-isms Group"?  We're close to 50 members and I'd love to get it up to a few hundred so we can share and hear more ideas.  Just link to me if you haven't and look for the Bennett-isms group button somewhere on my public profile, or use the search bar on top of my profile.

The reason I mention the group is our weekly discussion topic this week is focused on being a positive skeptic vs a hopeless romantic, it's a theme I talk about in live workshops and in my written materials.  The Positive Skeptic mindset means we need to learn to remain positive and upbeat, while approaching what is happening within the sales process as a cold, clear-eyed, detached skeptic.  A skeptic means we don't take anything on it's faith-value alone (no I'm not lisping)...we need tangible proof.  And, it means we're not here to be "liked and accepted"...that is left to the opposite mindset...that of the Hopeless Romantic.   Hopeless Romantics are always looking for love (often in all the wrong places...like a sales call) and acceptance...they want so badly for people to like them, to love their ideas, to accept them as human beings...that they tend to see things that aren't there, and believe things that are never expressed.  Their need to be liked clouds everything they do.

Unfortunately most salespeople are hopeless romantics...they want to be liked and accepted by all the prospects they're pursuing.  And they're so afraid of being rejected that they often shy away from approaching people they don't know.  And the people they DO know, they tend to push the relationship only so far, then they stop and just hope and pray someone will like them enough to become their girlfriend or boyfriend (aka their client).  Well, this hopeless romantic mindset and attitude can get you killed in sales.  Mainly because you're dealing with cold-hearted, ruthless, ninja-level, deceptive, serial liars (aka prospects and clients). 

I call it the dysfunctional dance of the macabre featuring a Hopeless Romantic and a Serial Liar.  When those two characters dance it aint pretty...and people get hurt...and people die.   

Conversly, the dance between a Positive Skeptic and Serial Liar is going to turn out much differently...a positive skeptic can deal with a serial liar because what is said doesn't matter...only what is done.  When I'm engaged with a client and the sales clock is on, I never forget who I'm dancing with...someone who looks normal on the outside, but on the inside is programmed to destroy me.

A major first step in changing from hopeless romantic to positive skeptic is to deal with this incessant, deeply-seated, programmed-to-seek-since-birth, need to be liked and accepted as a seller in the sales process.  NEWSFLASH:  prospects are only pretending to like you so you will go away...they actually hate you behind the scenes.  We're not there to be liked and accepted...that will happen once the client is connected with us as a partner and we're working to meet their needs.

I'll cover more of this on Thursday so please stay tuned, and in the meantime if you want to learn more about it and join in the discussion get in the Bennett-isms group on LinkedIn....TODAY!

GB