If you’ve been around the sales business long enough, it’s likely you’ve heard someone refer to selling as a hunt, or use a worn-out sports metaphor to describe a sales effort. In this sort of thinking, a sales opportunity is a chase or a game, and clients are the prize.
The language of sales is full of bankrupt, counter-productive language that hinders your ability to win. One seller characterized his company’s sales strategy as “you eat what you kill.” Another referred to a prospective client as a “wallet with legs.”
Language like that shifts your mindset to your own goals, instead of focusing it on what clients need. If you’re a “hunter,” your tactics to snare your quarry might be stealth, guile, and fire power, which rarely work for selling services.
Of course, you probably don’t really view clients as prey, but words affect our thoughts and behavior. So don’t be surprised if your clients figure out that you view them as objects of pursuit, instead of as collaborators. Put yourself in their shoes. How do you react when a seller treats you as if you have a target on your back?
About Michael W. McLaughlin
