Rejection/objection handling and sheer persistence aside, I'm unsure if many of the sales tactics employed in door-to-door or high-pressure sales cross over into enterprise software sales.
From what I've seen, high-pressure sales relies heavily on manipulation (i.e. invoking feelings and emotions within the customer to drive them towards an outcome) over value, and encourage volume (i.e. grinding, hitting as many houses/people as you can) over quality (i.e. qualifying, qualifying again, then maintaining those relationships for as long as possible, providing value all throughout). They're the same techniques that people high on MLM pyramids or closers in call centers employ. FUD can go a long way.
Also, enterprise sales cycles are much, much longer. Six months is fast in this space. The deal sizes are much larger, so the process is worth it, but because high-pressure sales typically deals with much smaller amounts, closing fast is key.
More emphatic people can probably make the switch easily, but the less-sophisticated hustlers and pseudo-grifters would get outed pretty fast. Interestingly, the reporter of this article stated that the salesman they followed is interested in going into real estate and has already dabbled in crypto, where those personalities tend to do very well.
Also, many of the sales folks that I've interacted with did not have high-pressure sales backgrounds. In fact, many of them were engineers at one point or another!
Everyone in sales can follow their own way. They can do high pressure sales if they wish.
However, it has been proven over and over that having discussions with people is the statistically best way to make a sale. Be actually interested in the person. Ask questions.
This guy took the time and actually took interest in HER:
Liam pointed out a Navy license plate on a car in the driveway.
“My sister is in the Navy,” the woman said.
“OK, well, thank you for your service, and happy Veterans Day,” he said. “Fun fact, I’ve had a relative in every American war, dating back to the Revolution.”
Something softened, ever so slightly.
This is not a cheap tactic to try to "get" someone.
I remember one time I was talking to a prospect over months, he told me that he and his wife were expecting a child in May. I called him at the end of May and we did our regular talk and I asked if his baby was born. Yes, a healthy boy. So I sent him a congratulation card with a hand-written note congratulating him and his wife. I called back in a few more weeks, and first thing he said was, "I got your congratulation card. Nobody else sent me one, even people I've known for 25 years." I got his order that call.
Some might think that this is a cheap tactic on my part to get an emotional response to manipulate the guy. I'm not going to lie and say that I don't think that, but it is in an intellectual manner only. I actually was very happy he and his wife had a healthy baby. I do get emotionally involved with my clients, same as a lot of other business owners do. Maybe like a hair salon person with her or his clients. I've had clients who I saw 3 times per week for years on end. It's impossible not to form a personal relationship.
Even if it is a one-call type of sale, I still like to have a deeper conversation and learn about them, whether they buy or not. I've learned a lot of cool stuff just by talking to people, even if they don't buy.
> This is not a cheap tactic to try to "get" someone.
It sure does a good job of looking like it. It's an attempt at emulating friendship in the hopes of coopting social mores about friendship in order to make a sale.
I do sales, but I also buy stuff, too. When I go to a place to buy something, expecially if it is a little more complex and I need some help understanding, I want a person who is nice and friendly. I don't want a jerk that looks like they hate being there and barely answers my questions and non-verbal communication shows that they disdain me and hate their job.
Someone might be emulating friendshpi to coopt and manipulate, but as a buyer, I'd rather have an emulation than an asshole help me.
But you are also ignoring the fact that salespeople are also humans, and we all like to make contacts and friends with other people. Am I perfunctorily friendly, emulate friendly sometimes? Sure, of course. But are there times when I genuinely like the other person and wouldn't mind a long-term actual friendship? Absolutely.
All of us have to emulate friendships, though. Just about everyone. We all are polite to our boss, even though we might hate him or her, because they are our customers - they give employees money. The employee is the "salesperson," starting right from the job interview. A nice person who is not as skilled and talented but who is still good but communicates great and is nice person is generally going to get the job over someone who is a lot more talented but who is a dick.
If you are a barber, you treat your customers well to have them come back. It's part business and emulating friendship, but part real.
And also, while I do treat people well and better than I would if I just met them on the street randomly, I personally also care in general about giving the best service that I can - but that is a personal integrity thing. I think most good salespeople feel likewise.
And here's another thing. When I make a sale, I send a thank you card with a $10 gift card to Starbucks or something like that. I've talked to people who tell me that they are having a baby in 4 months, and in 4 months I'll call them back and see how everything went. Then if all went well with a healthy baby, I send a congratulations card. At some level, the people I sent it to, they are not stupid. They completely understand that there is a sales aspect to it, for absolute sure. But at the same time, people are touched by it. I remember sending a congrats card to a guy who just had a baby and I sent a congrats card. He said that I was the only person that did this. People who he knew for 25 years and more, all his friends and relatives - nobody else did. And, I completely meant it. It was also not fake. I personally was VERY happy he and his wife had a healthy baby.
And I know a lot of salespeople will give the best fit, and will turn down a sale if there's no fit. The reason is that having integrity will get a salesperson a LOT more sales in the long run, and repeat sales are where the real money is. They are not going to jeapordize a long-term relationship for a short term gain. Not all sales people, but many do.
I hope this thorough explanation helps you understand a little more.
Be careful with salespeople, yes. But if you find a "good one" then make sure you go back to him or her when you want to buy something. Because it is difficult to find people you can trust.
My brother always uses the same realtor, who goes WAY above and beyond his job description, and everyone in our family and his friends now use the guy, that's like, probably at least 25-30 people that this realtor got from being a good salesperson to just one client.
How? Without government incentives like for EVs, the upfront costs still take too long to recover even with the supposed energy savings and cheaper Chinese solar components.
There’s definitely feel good incentives, but not monetary.
