Exposing Sales Myth #3 – People Buy People

Grant Leboff: Mark, we are debunking all of these sales myths and I love myth number three because, to an extent, it’s counterintuitive isn’t it? Everybody talks about ‘people buy people’, and of course to an extent they do, so when you say that’s a myth, what are you really trying to get at here?

Mark Blackmore: Well Grant, would I prefer to deal with a happy plumber over a miserable plumber? Of course I would rather have a happy plumber. Would I prefer to deal with a happy salesperson over a miserable salesperson? Of course I’d rather deal with you if you have a pleasant disposition. The reality is, though, a customer will only ‘buy you’ because of what you’re going to offer them. It isn’t because you’re a great guy. It isn’t because you take me for golf. It isn’t because your corporate hospitality is fabulous. It’s because, actually, you have expertise and personal credibility and that’s why I’d buy into you. So yes, it helps if we get along, but it goes beyond that. It’s actually the professional relationship that we have that we buy into, not because you’re a fabulous bloke.

Grant Leboff: So it’s not that people don’t buy people, because they do. But it’s not enough just to be a decent human being or a nice guy. You’ve got to have some credibility. So what are the things that a sales person has to do then to demonstrate that credibility?

Mark Blackmore: Well we talk about people having their personal credibility through their experience. So it may be their qualifications – how long they have been in the sector, how long they’ve been within the industry – but also, it could be the actual customers who they are dealing with, because people want to know that I’m dealing with the main person in the company. The person who genuinely understands my business. And that’s how you then develop the personal credibility

Grant Leboff: And what you think salespeople can do? It’s very interesting, I often talk to sales people who I don’t think utilise social media enough and I often say to them; if you’ve got expertise, have a little blog about it. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is connected to the great and the good in your industry, if you know them anyway. Do you think there are certain things that salespeople should be doing – almost pre-meeting almost – to demonstrate some of that credibility as well?

Mark Blackmore: Well again, do they attend networking events? Do they stand up and do they contribute? Are they, if you like, a thought leader within their own industry? A lot of people think that thought leadership is up to somebody else. Great sales people – they are the ones who make it their business to be knowledgeable on their product, to be knowledgeable within their sector and, actually, the way I can influence you is by giving you some information that you hadn’t heard before.

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