The Difference Between Service And Selling

I’ve been doing a lot of work with members on my Sales Mastery Mentor Programs over the past few weeks and we’ve been talking about the difference between service and selling.

Unfortunately, the ‘soft sell’ revolution has created salespeople who in the main are just providing a service…..and what that means is that many sales are lost.

Let me explain the difference.

Recently I went to buy a new high definition digital video camera.  As usual, I received the typical customer service that I’ve come to expect.

The so called customer service person was almost apologetic in his approach to help me, almost expecting me to say “I’m just looking at the moment”……But to his surprise I said that I would like some help in choosing a camera.

He then immediately started to tell me about the differences between four cameras……I have no idea how he knew that any of them might be what I was after, because he didn’t ask me any questions at all.

He was capability selling…..just telling me about all of the products.

Now here’s my point……

 Choice Without Advice Kills The Sale!

When I go to buy something that is important to me, I don’t want someone just to ‘serve me’.  I want someone to provide me with the advice I need to make a wise buying decision.

You can’t give advice and a confident recommendation as a customer service (sales) person, unless you have found out about my situation, expectations, experiences, concerns, wants, needs, and goals that I’m seeking to achieve from buying a product or a service.

The difference between typical customer service and someone who steps up and provides advice and recommendations is what selling is all about.

Buyers today, whether business to business, or business to consumer are looking for sales and service people to help them sort out the most appropriate purchase from the many choices they have in front of them.

Expert advice wins sales.  Choice and capability, without advice loses sales and creates buyer apathy.