Sales People Should Be Sherpas Not Charlatans

 

Over the past several decades, several people  (precious few of whom have since recanted) proclaimed, “Greed is good.”

 

I ferociously disagree, and always have. Greed is a form of gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins.

 

It should come as no surprise that many consumers consider salespeople unscrupulous charlatans, dedicated to driving hapless victims into circumstances that will  bite them in the butt sooner or later.

 

And there are far too many salespeople who conform to the stereotype, which is why “salespeople as charlatans” is a stereotype.

 

But good salespeople aren’t scoundrels. They’re sherpas –shepherds and servants–dedicated to sure-footedly guiding their prospects to destinations that will safely serve them, rather than exploiting them.

 

Copywriters are salespeople. 

Good copywriters are sherpas, too.

I’m presently on the cusp of helping a new client with his email and cold call phone script outreach. Although he isn’t in a niche I usually serve, as soon as I reviewed the information he sent, I knew I had to help him, and that I can help him.

 

His sales force is less than a year into its mission, and what they’ve come up with as outreach (cold calls and a four email series to prospects who don’t respond) hasn’t been working for them as well as they’d like.

 

And boy howdy, when I reviewed their sales collateral, I knew exactly why the result has been so anemic.  (I helped another client in this same way recently, and he’s delighted with the results I achieved with my rewrites of his outreach emails.)

 

So, I’m jumping on a consultation call with him and a compatriot on Monday afternoon to give them some pointers and to see if they want to try to implement the changes themselves, or hire me to do the work for them.  They’re paying me $200 for the hour-long consultation (to include the time it took me to review their materials and watch their 40-minute and 5-minute explanation videos).

 

If they hire me for the whole enchilada, it won’t be cheap, but it will be well worth every Grover Cleveland they spend because it will very likely skyrocket their success rate.  Their products are high-end and expensive, so every sale they make will quickly earn back what they’ll be paying out to me.

 

In fact, I may even offer to do the work for less if I can get “a small piece of the action” in perpetuity on every sales conversion the new outreach makes.  If not, they’re going to have pay enough to seriously increase the likelihood that they’ll land more deals than they are right now.

 

But here’s the thing…

 

As a copywriting sherpa, I make sure that I feel confident I can deliver a satisfying (if not stupefying) result for the people I serve.  If I don’t feel confident I can, I decline the invitation to engage.  And if I know someone else who can serve them commendably, I recommend them. My bottom line is that I want them to succeed, with or without me, so I make sure I help try to make that happen, even when I don’t engage as the designated hitter for their project.

 

My job isn’t to grab every opportunity that comes my way, any more than it’s a salesperson’s job to convert every prospective customer who comes to them.

 

Good salespeople want return business, not “grab what you can, in every conceivable way possible, consequences (to the customer and myself) be damned.”

 

My younger sister worked in banking for 35 years. She didn’t always recommend her bank’s options; she frankly let her customers know when the bank could and couldn’t serve them best.  She said she couldn’t live with herself had she behaved in any other way.  That’s integrity.

 

Good salespeople shepherd their customers the way good parents shepherd their kids. 

They want what’s best for them, and they want them to succeed. 

 

Good salespeople give our best, keeping the best interests of our clients/customers in mind.  Which is why we don’t come across as salespeople. We come across as reliable sherpas, helping them sidestep the crevasses and dangers that are always near whenever they step outside their comfort zones. We know the way and where the pitfalls are.

 

We do our best to keep them away from the “greed is good” folks, especially! There are plenty of charlatans out there in every possible niche, promising the moon and the stars with zero intention of actually delivering you to them, or them to you.

 

Which is why finding someone you can truly trust has become a minefield…

 

Sad but true!

 

So, always be sure to read a salesperson’s reviews and testimonials, and ask for examples of their successes.

 

You need a sherpa, not a charlatan, in your corner, someone who keeps your best interests top of mind instead of their personal desire (or directive) to make a sale.

 

Hungry salespeople can be hungry (and desperate) for a couple of reasons (unless they’re complete newbies). They may not have worked with integrity (been good sherpas), or they may be driven to use unscrupulous tactics by “greed is good” managers who pay them puny commissions for busting their butts.

 

Either way, a look of wild-eyed desperation and/or high pressure tactics should be a red flag.

 

Good salespeople look and act sure-footed and confident because they have delivered before and they frequently have awards and testimonials to validate their confidence and integrity as conscientious sherpas.

 

We’re out here. Keep looking until you find one in every niche where you need a reliable, trustworthy helper or consultant!