Why Buyers Try So Hard NOT to Like Salespeople

A few months back on a flight home, a seemingly nice young man sat down next to me and began shooting off the obligatory sitting-next-to-a-stranger questions.

Him: Going home or on business?

Me: Going home. I was here in Charlotte on business.

Him: What do you do?”

Me: Sales training.

I answered his questions politely but briefly, as I always do, so as not to unintentionally invite an hours-long conversation. But then my southern roots kicked in and I felt compelled to ask him the same questions.

MeGoing home or on business?

Him: Going home. I was on business here also. (Red flag warning: we have something in common…unwanted conversation may result!)

Me: What do you do?

Him: I am an auditor.

I bluntly blurted out, “Oh, people hate you, right?”

His good-natured response was, “Yes, I like to call it ‘the profession of fake smiles’.”

He totally got it. He understood that preconceptions drive people’s perceptions.

It’s the same for sales people.

Buyers hold a predetermined expectation of what it means to work with a salesperson. Buyers often enter into a sales situation on high alert. Even if they feel drawn to a sales person, their instincts will warn them not to actually like this salesperson.

I hate to say it, fellow salespeople, but not very deep down, most buyers believe that we are out to get them.

Daniel Pink surveyed a large group of non-salespeople on this topic for his book, To Sell Is Human. Pink asked people about the first word that came to their minds when they thought of salespeople or selling and he identified the top 25 adjectives that people use when describing salespeople.

As you can probably guess, the list was not flattering to our profession. The top 25 words included: pushy, difficult, yuck, ugh, sleazy, annoying and… wait for it… even “smarmy.” Yep, “smarmy” made the top 25.

So the question is not, “What do people think of me?” Daniel Pink clarified that for all of us.

The question is, “What will I do with the knowledge that I am not perceived in a favorable light?”

How can we become more strategic in our interactions with buyers so we can change their perceptions?

Figure out how to help your customers see you as coffee-worthy, trust-worthy, helpful and truly desire the very best for them.

Do that, and you will begin changing their perceptions and enjoy the opportunity to change their world.


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About the Author: Amy O'Connor

As one of the most in-demand sales training consultants in North America today, Amy O’Connor brings a decade’s worth of industry experience and knowledge, along with a fresh female perspective on leadership, to her impactful and enlightening seminars.