Why You Can’t Sell

When you are selling something, anything, the most important principle of all is that you believe you genuinely have a valuable proposition for your customer or client. If you don’t believe in the product you are selling, then why on earth would anyone else?

However, in this post I am going to answer a question which many salespeople and managers ask themselves on a daily basis; why on earth aren’t anyone biting on my pitch?

The Issue of a Perceived Sale

If you read my previous blog post from earlier this year where I go through how perception is everything you’ll know how I’ve just scratched the surface of why it’s more important how someone perceives something you say or do, rather than what you actually try to say or do. This is the short lesson of today’s post as well; no matter how you pitch your proposition to a cold customer, as long as their perception is telling you they are being sold to, chances are you’ll lose the sale.

So What if Someone Realizes I’m Selling?

Good question! Think of it this way, as I’ve said before in my introduction to selling anything to anyone, the art of selling is making a certain impression. To create the sense of value you need to close a sale, you need to convey a certain impression to your customer. Because each customer is different, you will essentially need to manipulate in order to sell efficiently. Though a harsh reality, it’s something which is important and helpful to be aware of when you are selling.

What happens when someone is aware you are selling to them is they feel as though you are trying to manipulate them and their guard comes up. Closing a sale requires trust, and more often than not that requires you to take other routes than the script your manager has put in front of you.

How Someone Perceives you are Selling to Them

The idea is simple; if someone’s perception of what constitutes a sale is aligned with your process of selling something, then they will experience your method as selling. However, if your sales process steers clear of your target’s idea of what “selling” is, then your chances of building trust, offering something of value and closing a sale skyrocket!

This requires a different way of selling to different kinds of people. Yet another reason why sales scripts are a bad idea. Write the main points down which you want to get across in a call or a meeting, and then feel out your customer and figure out the best way for each particular target to realize the value of what it is you are selling, and what good it would do them.

If you have any questions or topics you would like me to write about, please do let me know from the Contact Us page or in the comment section below.


Perception Is Everything

One of the most fundamental necessities Becama helps companies to understand when prospecting, negotiating, selling or in any way communicating with a potential buyer is that everything falls on their perception. Far too many companies out there focus on a pitch or product presentation which looks amazing to the provider, but without ever considering for differences in perception. Different perception can be a result of differences in culture, values, experiences… just about anything, and if you can learn to learn and adjust to your prospect’s perception you’ll be the most dangerous salesperson on the force.


So what does it mean, “perception is everything?” Well, from my experience, it simply means that it’s never about what you say or do, but about what your prospect(s) understand. For instance, when Becama helps companies develop their business and improve their lead capturing and conversions, I work with all industries, from tradesmen working with their hands, to financial institutions working with computers and software. As you can imagine, when talking to managers and founders of these companies, their personalities tend to differ greatly from one another. I can assure you, if I attempt to sell Becama’s services and expertise to every single company in the exact same way, I’d be digging a deep hole for myself. I have to take into consideration how each individual will perceive what I am saying or presenting.

Take this image for example. I took this during a vacation. Imagine you are the one lying in the hammock. What do you see? Why are you there? How are you feeling? What time of day is it? Where in the world is it?  Think as much as you can about the circumstances of the image.

Kent In El Salvador

Your perception of this image will dictate how you feel about and interpret it. The image is actually from when I visited a dear friend in El Salvador over spring break, 2014, during my college times. Though you may have seen something completely different. Please do let me know what you saw in the comments below.

When I talk to a tradesman, I talk about physical, simple changes which can be implemented such that you can see the changes made. This could be something as simple as adding a contact form to a website, having a visible phone number, or even just a brief introduction to social media marketing. However, looking at a tech company, all of a sudden technical improvements are much more interesting. This includes adding code for online chat support, email automation to decrease time spent emailing people, newsletter design and social media automation or even as far as their digital structure and search engine optimization.

In conclusion, the subject of perception is massive and I will be writing much more about it, but in short; what someone is willing to spend falls on their perceived value of what you are selling. The more you can influence and increase your prospect’s perceived value, the more you can charge for your product or service. The next time you pitch to someone, make sure to do a bit of research; what industries are they familiar with? What are their background? Do you have any common ground to leverage? Any specific analogies to other companies just like theirs?

If you have any questions or comments on my brief introduction to bending perception, by all means, feel free to leave a comment below. Have any questions you’d like me to elaborate on? Comment or contact me and I’ll be happy to write a blog post explaining my take on what you might be going through.