Why Are People Afraid Of Sales Reps?

Someone reminded me the other day, that these posts should be more about helping reps sell, than about telling my own personal stories.  Granted, some of the stories are interesting but for the most part, it can't all be about ME, ME, ME!  I do put tidbits in there about sales for people to mentally "snack" on, but for the most part it's really about relating what we all go through while out in the field.  If you want to correspond with the Darkside just send me an Inmail, and you may... or may not get a response.

After being out in the field for years, I realized that when I would visit a doctor's office I'd never been to before, the staff was always wary of me.  Even if I was familiar with the doctor and I'd tell them he contacted me, I still receive the same conspicuous glare of hatred when I approached the front counter.  Which was usually followed by, "I'm very busy today, how can I help you?"  And ideally my response might be, "Why don't you start by wiping that sour puss off your face.  I don't give a damn if you're busy I'm here for a reason."  However, I usually take the wimpy route and ask to see the doctor, and politely wait my turn.  I'm such a pussy some times.

I thought long and hard as to why people react negatively to even the mere presence of a rep in the office. I had an unsettling experience one morning with an office manager, which all worked out well after some face time and some explaining.  Yet as I was getting ready to leave that particular office, I asked manager why she had been so curt with me before she knew the doctor had wanted to see me.

Her answer: "I didn't know who you were."

It was that simple.  People are afraid of the unknown.  They fear things they can't explain, or can't control, and that's how they perceive sales reps.  They see us as an unknown entity, and in some cases, a very pushy and annoying unknown entity.  In fact, I myself react negatively to sales reps when they approach me in a car dealership.  Honestly, as they approach me in the show room, I'm thinking, "Here comes a major loser trying to sell me a car I don't want."  Why?  Because I don't have control over what's going to happen, and this person represents the unknown factor.  This is why I only deal with the fleet manager at the dealership, because he is someone I have known for years and I feel confident he will give me a great deal...which he usually does.

In no particular order of importance, here is a list of why people are afraid of sales reps and the common misconceptions they make about us:

• Sales reps are magical - Didn't you know that we came from Harry Potter's famous Hogwarts School and we are capable of magically changing a person's mind without them having any control over themselves?  We are like Merlin The Magician and pretty soon a prospect with fall under our spell.  People really believe that we weave such magical spells that they can no longer use their own brain to make a decision. This scares them into avoiding reps altogether. If I was that magical, I would be able to convince my niece to eat all her vegetables, which I can't.  We aren't magical but if we focus, we can be mythical.  Yet either way, I don't think my niece will ever eat all her vegetables.    
• Sales reps are annoying - I say this all the time to people because there are many reps out in the field who are pushy, over bearing, and really, really annoying.  Personally I don't necessarily try to be annoying, but just by being in front of a person, pushing product, that in itself is invasive and people hate it.  In fact I hate it.  I had a sales rep, who I'd worked with previous, just waltz in while I was doing a product demonstration and start to take over the luncheon meeting.  He represented a different product, which didn't compete with mine, but I finally had to ask him to "step outside" so I could speak with him. I just said, "Dude, what the hell are you doing?  I paid for the lunch and I scheduled this meeting.  Come back when I'm done. I don't crash your in services." He apologized, but it was still incredibly annoying. 
• Sales reps are swindlers - Because of movies like "Used Cars" with Kurt Russell, "Tin Men",and also movies as recently as "Love and Other Drugs" with Jake Gyllenhaal, (which is nothing like the book by Jamie Reidy). Sales reps have a reputation for being swindlers and philanderers.  People think that  reps are more interested in making money than taking care of patients, customers, or anyone else.  This is not entirely true.  Like everyone we want to make money, but a good rep is more interested in fostering relationships than "stealing" from a customer. However if people don't know you, be prepared to climb over a lot of "walls" to get a sale. 
• Sales reps are two faced - People perceive that we're telling them one thing, and then talking shit behind their backs.  We couldn't make a sale if this were true.  Customers find this stuff out eventually, but I do hear other things from customers that bother me.  For example,  I hear this daily.  "You only care about whether I order or not.  You wouldn't even talk to me if I wasn't ordering from you."  My answer.  "You are absolutely 100% right ! I do care about your orders, but I would speak to you no matter whether you ordered from me or you didn't."  That's the TRUTH! We need to tell our customers the truth.  I have 5 accounts now which I go to on a regular basis not because they order: THEY DON'T.  But I tell them the same thing every week, "You're not my customer...yet.  But you will be.", and I believe every word of what I'm saying.  Its just a matter of time.  Be transparent, and not two faced, otherwise customers can sniff out "fakies" right away, and I don't mean breasts. 
• Sales reps are all the same  - I've met and trained a lot of sales reps and we are definitely not the same.  A lot of people out there are freaks.  In fact, some reps will do some crazy stuff to make a sale, and so people perceive us as all the same. I had one guy who wouldn't leave a job interview until they hired him...he ended up getting escorted off the company premises and then arrested for trespassing.   We are perceived as overly aggressive, rude, too pushy, and not very polite.  We should go out of our way to be the exact opposite of this stereotype, but unfortunately many reps out there have egos that won't let them drop the "act".  Get over yourself!  Suck it up, be humble, remain subtly aggressive, and best of all BE VISIBLE.  If you're in front of a customer or prospect enough times they're bound to listen to you and eventually buy something from you.  If you don't try to break out of the "mold" then you're gonna end up like day old bread: thrown out. 

If your cold calling, seeing a prospect for the first time, or making an initial contact with a customer, you must counteract these common misconceptions about yourself.  Here's a few tips:

1. Smile for god's sake-I interviewed a sales rep one time who was so intense he wouldn't smile.  Not a good social trait when you're trying to win people over.  People react more pleasantly when you smile at them and are more receptive.
2. Make fun of yourself- Yesterday, I had to visit a doctor's office and I just played stupid. "Oh this is an oncology clinic, I thought it was a gynecology clinic.  I'm so dumb".  Guess what it worked, and I got an appointment with the Medical Director.
3. Be different...in a good way-Okay try not to be an ass.  By different I mean, drop a thank you card before you even introduce yourself.  One that says thank you for not throwing me out of the office.  
4. Be honest - No one likes to be lied to, and telling a customer you can do something or get something and you can't is a big mistake.  Don't over commit, be like George Clooney...when he was still single.
5. Be polite - From the counter people, to the janitor, to the decision maker, always be polite. The other day I had a receptionist get snippy with me and so I was curt with her.  Well she told the doctor and he gave me a hard time about being nicer to his staff.  So even though I wasn't a jerk, she took offense.  Of course she was being a bitch, but that's another story.

Good luck out there, be prepared, and have good day selling!

-M