Note To Marketers And Salespeople: Yours Is A Noble Profession

by Tom Ruwitch

This month’s column is an ode to marketers and salespeople, a note of encouragement to thank you for what you do and to remind you that you can make the world a better place.

I was inspired to write this the other day when a salesperson apologized to me for selling. Ryan works at the AT&T store in Columbia, Mo. My wife and I were there to buy her a new phone and kill time while our college-freshman son was sleeping in. We approached our visit with a leisurely pace because while “sleeping in” for us parents might mean awake at 9 a.m., “sleeping in” for the 19-year-old meant we could kill time at the store until early afternoon.

Ryan was great. He told us everything we had to know about various phones and their options. He knew his stuff. The more he spoke, the more he established his authority.

He told us about the buy-one, get-one-free offer on phones without pitching it too aggressively. The measured approach helped establish trust. When my wife mentioned that she worked for a university, he found a special discount for that university’s employees that knocked $27 off our monthly bill. More trust.

He discussed virtual reality with me – only after I showed some interest in the topic – and he described how “cool” the new Samsung virtual reality headset is. He noted that we could get 20% off on the headset if our total expenditure on accessories crossed a certain threshold.

That led to a conversation about protective cases for my wife’s new phone.

When she decided to buy one of the cases, I turned to my wife, smiled, and said, “Ryan is selling today.”

He took it as an insult.

“I’m sorry. I really am…,” he said.

I cut him off. “Please, don’t apologize. I meant it as a compliment. You’ve done a great job.”

The best marketers and salespeople solve problems and fulfill desires. Ryan did this methodically and intelligently. He discovered our problems and desires. He established authority. He built trust. He presented options. He closed sales. Nothing to be ashamed of there. In fact, I was celebrating his good work.

Yet too often marketers and salespeople act skittish or ashamed – as if marketing and sales are rotten professions.

I sense this from some of my clients who worry about sending too many emails or coming on too strong. As I noted last month, your email subscribers will welcome your emails as long as the messages are valuable to them.

I think many in our profession feel skittish because there are marketers and salespeople who give us a bad name – those who put their desire to sell ahead of their desire to serve their customers. Those are the marketers and salespeople who thrive on persuading people to buy – even tricking them – when the product or service doesn’t actually solve a problem or fulfill a desire.

Ryan inspired me to remind you: Don’t worry about the bad eggs, marketers and salespeople. Yours is a noble profession. Just honor it by acting nobly.

Tom Ruwitch is founder and president of MarketVolt. To attend a free webinar in which Tom demonstrates how to quickly and affordably set up automated marketing processes, go to MarketVolt.com/automation.