It is a fact that people like to buy for a number of reasons.  For others, is the feeling of power that they get when buying things, others feel a sense of pleasure and fulfilment, while some, even take pride in buying, especially when they feel that they got a bargain.

It is also a fact that, in general, people have a tendency to be nice to other people.  Then, as a buyer, the way to be nice to the salesperson that we have in front of us, is actually to buy something from them.  So, if we (pretty much) all like to buy and to be nice to others, why we tend to be resistant when approached by salespeople?   

Well, as I have written in a previous blog post, most people love to buy, but hate to feel that they are being sold.  “Being sold” is to being pushed by someone into a decision, which in this case is to buy something. Unfortunately, we all have stories to share, in which we have experienced something similar.

Therefore, based on these negative experiences, whenever approached by a salesperson, sometimes consciously, but most of the times unconsciously, we enter, what sales guru Josh Braun describes as, the “Zone of Resistance”.  He defines the Zone of Resistance as “a reflex reaction to self-serving salespeople that out their best interest first”, and I believe that he couldn’t describe it in a better way.

So here, there is a lesson for all of us sales professionals.  We need to stop viewing our customers/prospects as targets, because if we are thinking like that, then our behaviours and actions are going to be fitted in this way of thinking, which is to hit the target.  If this is the case, then we shouldn’t be surprised why people are entering into the Zone of Resistance.

The way out of this, as Josh Braun suggests, is to detach ourselves from the outcome, which for a salesperson is to sell.  If we do that, then there is undoubtedly going to be a change in the experience that the customer will have, when interacting with us. 

We need to keep reminding ourselves that what we offer may work for some people, not for everyone.  Selling starts from initiating a conversation with the customer.  Therefore, first, we need to be curious about their current situation, so as to determine that they have an issue, rather than assuming that they have and that we are the solution to it.

If our intent is different, our actions and behaviour will be different, and the results will be different too.  So, be nice, be curious, start asking, stop assuming and let people do one of the things that they love, which is buying.