Marketing is about finding opportunities; selling is turning opportunities into sales. One of the most helpful distinctions I've made in running my small company is the difference between marketing and sales. I used to group them into the same category. I keep the difference straight by thinking of marketing as the stuff I do to make my phone ring with an opportunity and sales as the thing that happens once my phone has rung. As I stated before, marketing is about sharpening your axe (refining your position) and persistently sowing your message (finding opportunities). Sales is about establishing trust and persuading a prospective client that your services are best suited for their needs.

Therefore, the art of sales is the art of persuasion, while persuasion is the ability to provide understandable and reasonable answers to the questions a prospect has about your service. There is a strong tendency in marketing and sales to play off of the consumer's fears. The idea is to make them afraid of what might happen if they don't buy your product or service. This can be as subtle as identifying deficiencies in the competition or as overt as blasting spam email to scare people into buying software to protect their computer from the threat of viruses. We think the stronger the words, the more powerful the persuasion. This is why there is so much hyperbole in advertising. But I take my sales and marketing cues from Proverbs 16:21. I believe sweetness of speech is more persuasive than bold overstatement.

Now by sweet speech I don't mean fluffy words you'd use to describe puppy dogs and decorative pillows, but words that are sweet like good fruit. Sweet words are words that go down easy because they are true and honest. They are words that directly answer questions and provide additional information so a person can make a qualified decision. They are words that don't go beyond what is actual and real, even when the answer reveals a limitation about the product or service. Such words are rare, but when we hear them they taste sweet. When I have to buy a product or service, I'm much more likely to buy from a sales representative who I believe has honestly answered all of my questions...even if the answers weren't exactly what I wanted...than from a salesman who I think is just telling me what I want to hear.

Sweet, persuasive, honest speech has wonderful long-term benefits. For example, being honest with yourself and with your prospect about whether or not your services really are best suited for their needs will force you to improve your marketing and sales! When your services are not best suited, you may need to either refine the focus of your marketing to get better opportunities or improve your services to meet your client's needs. Either way, an honest evaluation of how your services will meet your client's needs will force you to evaluate and improve. In addition, keeping focused on what you do best will sharpen your skills in your area of expertise. The sharper you get, the better and more persuasive you will become. It's an upward spiral.

Honesty in working through the sales process also helps avoid conflicts that result when you invite inappropriate work by overselling your services and capabilities for the sake of closing a sale.   next >