Honor Salesmanship

As far back as Homer’s The Odyssey, retailers have been depicted as slimy, well beneath the station of those who manufacture the products: Says Euryalus to Odysseus, “…art thou such a one as comes and goes in a benched ship, a master of sailors that are merchantmen, one with a memory for his freight, or that hath the charge of a cargo homeward bound, and of greedily gotten gains; thou seemest not a man of thy hands.”
     In today’s computer-generated word clouds, “selling” has stronger associations with “tricking” than with “serving.” In the public’s thoughts, the central objective of salesmanship training is how to grab the legs of each passerby, yank them upside down, and shake hard enough to dislodge from pockets and purses every last penny and all available credit cards.
     Those perceptions are not without justification. A great many retailers do forget to keep their skills sharp and do neglect to deliver full value to the shopper. These less-than-honorable merchants probe with questions which put consumers on the defensive, polluting the well for other retailers. They fail to use questions properly in order to clarify shopper needs and desires the shopper may not have recognized.
     Respected retailers stay aware. Business researchers at Harvard University and University of Notre Dame analyzed instances in which retail businesses cheated customers. The researchers concluded that in many cases, the owners/operators did not intend to do wrong. The slippage was unintentional.
     Please stop for a moment now and bring to mind the retailers you respect. Use your talents at getting answers to ask yourself what distinguishes these individuals. Honor them, honor the best in yourself as a retailer, and honor salesmanship.
     Odysseus knew to honor the courage necessary for selling and the ability of merchants to impress others. Homer writes that, in response to Euryalus’ taunt, Odysseus looked fiercely at him and then, “leaped to his feet, and caught up a weight larger than the rest, a huge weight heavier far than those wherewith the Phaeacians contended in casting. With one whirl he sent it from his stout hand, and the stone flew hurtling: and the Phaeacians, of the long oars, those mariners renowned, crouched to earth beneath the rushing of the stone. Beyond all the marks it flew, so lightly it sped from his hand, and Athene in the fashion of a man marked the place, and spake and hailed him….”

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers

Click below for more: 
Remember to Consider Rhetorical Questions 
Ask Shoppers for Reasons to Buy 
Anticipate Ethics Slippage