What Inspired Contrarian Sales Techniques Blog?

Initially, contrarian-sales-techniques.blogspot was written because I believe that there's a better way to sell.

I just came out from a Multinational Pharma Company, and I see that I can sell better following a different sales strategy.

And it was more fun too...

And that strategy was not taught in that pharma sales modules -- beginners or advance alike.

I begin to spell out the difference in blog posts.

From prospecting to completing a sales (which I avoid the term "closing"), I've lined out the difference from what was taught by sales trainers to what I've discovered following the new strategy.

Some readers responded enthusiastically!

And many of them were colleagues and buddies from my previous pharma companies.

Then the momentum slows down.

I came down like a hurricane, and then, as time passes, it slows down.

I still write every now and then about my experience with the new sales strategy, but my focus was divided between recording (writing a blog post) and actually implementing it (new job).

I had joined three more multi-national pharma companies and one diagnostic company.

I produced the same results every time.

I was convinced that there was no better way to sell than the strategy I was adopting.

And now I'm implementing it to yet another business. I'm still evaluating its effectiveness and God willing, one day, I would share my experience here.

This blog is like my working life document!

I was also inspired to write contrarian sales techniques to help fellow aspired to be a salesperson

First, I see that many people were shy when they faced a selling situation.

I know how it feels. I've been there before.

I write to help folks who want to sell but shy and think that selling was reserved to a selected few.

Yes, not everyone wants to be a salesperson, but at least I want them to be able to sell if they need to.

That's the main aim...

And there's a race associated with intense shyness when it comes to selling.

Yeah...it's a Malay.

And I hope to inspire some Malays to take up the challenge selling for pharma sales reps in particular, and selling in other industry in general.

But I can see that my observation is no longer valid.

Many Malays had jumped on the bandwagon of selling, especially in the insurance and mutual fund industry.

I feel happy for them ...

So, up to this point, it's apparent that I wrote this blog and named it contrarian-sales-techniques to point out that:

• 1) There's definitely a better way to sell. Sticking to the same sales routine yields the same (or declining) sales results. To get better results, salespersons need to get out of the rut.
• 2) Even a shy person can sell without changing who they are (but changing how they think and act).
• 3) The Malays need to be inspired to join sales force and prove that they too can sell, as demonstrated by folks in insurance, mutual fund, and multilevel marketing industry.

And my final inspiration is to create a placeholder for my thought.

I think about many things every day.

At times, I missed good ideas because I failed to capture it when it pops up, or I miss the opportunity to give my comment on relevant issues -- issues that involve me, my loved ones, and my community.

If I'm not heard now, and I never got it down, I'll never be heard for sure.

When I got it down, there's a chance that it will be found.

And that folks are my main inspirations why I wrote in this blog.

I'll keep sharing my thought as long as it's relevant, and I'd very much like two ways communication from you, my readers, and visitors.

We're connected and let us stay that way, no matter where and who you are.

The Core Of Contrarian Selling Model

What is at the core of contrarian selling model?

The core of this model can be summarized in one word: RELATIONSHIP.

I've always believed with the concept I've learned, applied and internalized years ago which I got from How To Swim With The Shark Without Being Eaten Alive by Harvey Segal, that says:

"It's better to know something about customers than to know everything about products."

This concept has caused me to argue with many sales managers across many pharma companies I've worked with all these years.

This concept has proven its lasting effect on many products I've promoted since I became a salesperson.

This concept has allowed me to sell with greater peace of mind than any known prescribed medicines ever will.

I want to call this concept the foundation of selling.

Nothing has ever come close to its importance.

What relationship allows the salesperson to do?

The relationship allows a salesperson to build trust.

People buy from people they trust.

It has also been my belief that the salesperson task is not to sell but help others buy.

Think about it...

The word sells create an impression that one needs to get through something to move products or services. Others are not ready for what one has; thus, one needs to make them want it.

But helping people to buy is different...

People already have the tendencies to get something, and ready to part with their money to get it.

Some people are more eager than others...

My wife, for example, is ever ready to part with her cash to get her hands off the latest veil with new patterns and layout (shhh! If you knew her don't tell her that I leaked this secret out). If a savvy salesperson spots this, it's an easy sell :-)

I believe it's the same situation as you.

There are things you want to own right now, and someone somewhere has access to what you want. If you're spotted, it's going to be easy to sell.

And who would you buy from?

You would definitely buy from people whom you TRUST, right?

I believe you would not part with your money to some strangers who stand naked in front of you, right?

And who do you trust?

People whom you have engaged in the past.

People who know you and you know them.

People who have an excellent first impression on you and continue to impress you.

In short, people whom you can relate to.

People whom you have some kind of relationship.

They are the people whom you are likely to buy from...

That's why the relationship is at the core of contrarian sales technique.

When everybody else busies themselves with sales training and product training, a contrarian salesperson busy him/herself with building a relationship; getting to know prospects and connect to them better.

From there, it's really EASY to help prospects buy...

Can you see it?

Selling Through Social Media Is Contrarian?

Since I've been writing about contrarian selling techniques and why it's the best way to sell today, one of my readers thought that using social media to sell in a contrarian way since everyone might not be doing it.

Well, NO, NO, NO!...

Selling through social media, IMHO, is not contrarian.

It's contra-indicated!

I'm saying this for several reasons, and I have evidence to back me up.

Numero uno:

Social media is for socializing, not commercializing.

You can sell stuff at eBay or similar auction site, you can sell your things at Amazon.com, you can sell it by using direct response marketing using websites, or combination of these but never use social media for marketing your stuff.

You can gossip, lousy mouth, praise or whatever with friends and family about products and services you use (which you're already doing verbally anyway) but refrain yourself from falling into the trap of using social media as a sales medium.

It does you more suitable to take your selling off that Facebook or Twitter pages than to continually bombard them with Ads.

We've already seen enough ads on TV already and heard them enough on the radio.

Give some space to sanity for a change...

Number two:

Social media audience is not highly responsive to ads.

I can relate to this because I did some experiment on it, primarily through FB and Tweeter.

The response rates were abysmal, and I would instead put my energy marketing my products elsewhere.

What social media is suitable for?

It is suitable for research.

I've used it to gather feedback, get ideas, and debate on things that I was working on related to my products.

I've gathered valuable insight into kinds of stuff like mobile phones, broadband services, Android apps, etc. through social media.

And that's what social media is suitable for in my opinion...

If you don't have a huge list to work with to market your offer, having solid following through social media allows you to take those targeted few off the page to another gateway.

But it must be done subtly...

I presume that you hang around intelligent and smart people that can tell the difference between ads and social blurp.

You can use social media for that purpose.

Other than that, please, I beg you, use another avenue to advertise your products.

I have gotten some names off my friends' list simply because they share nothing else but ads, ads, and more ads.

I respect their choice to get involved with MLM and all, but I got my sanity space to look after.

Social media, for some people like me, is a sacred escape.

I prefer to keep it that way.

So, marketers and sellers, do find your commercial space elsewhere.

And for the rest of you, using social media to sell is UN-CONTRARIAN...

I'm Convinced That Contrarian Is The Best Way To Sell

I've got a quick question to ask you, salespeople, out there:

How many sales techniques and selling strategies you know from the day you start selling until today?

I can bet you can name me probably hundreds of techniques and thousands of strategies you know since the day you start selling.

Now, the next question...

How many of these techniques and strategies you've used so far?

I'm confident that you would not use ALL techniques and tactics, you know.

At best, you're using just a handful of them, or you just follow what comes naturally to you.

And the last (but the MOST important) question...

Which of these techniques and strategies REALLY help you produce the result you want?

The final question is imperative.

It forces you to think of those effective techniques you've employed during your sales career.

I can tell from experience that customers change, circumstances change, the economy change, the political climate change, the weather changes, and everything in between shifts.

But the right and practical strategies stay...

So what are they?

If you put yourself in a conference hall full of salespeople, like in an annual sales meeting, if you pull any of them aside and ask them which sales strategies work for them, you're likely to get more than one answer.

Many factors affect the answers, including competencies, geography, psychology, and many more.

I've worked with individual sales consultant companies that have the answers to which sales tactics work best. I've been exposed to SPIN selling, Social Styles Sales Strategy, Patient Focus Selling, and Value Based Selling, just to name a few.

Why so many sales program?

My answer is simple: every program has its time, people, and place.

I put PEOPLE in there because that's what all selling boils down to.

We sell to people, right?

Maybe some of us sell to cats and dogs, but the rest of us sell to a human being.

And there's no one human being who are ALIKE...

We can identify a pattern, like in Social Style Selling Skills, but that's the best we can come up with.

I remember one of my customers commented on my answer to his concern, "You like to keep this open, don't you? Your answer is like you're neither here nor there."

YES!

I like to keep things open.

I like to think about what possible.

I often think about the potential and not limiting myself to what in front of me.

My customers buy my company's medicine not for the problems that their patients have but for the potential of health that those medicines facilitate.

That's the power.

The power of potential...

And this power is nothing absolute.

It works under the Law of Possibility.

So, my argument to why CONTRARIAN is the best way to sell is similar.

Selling is a game of probability.

What salespeople actually do is to increase the probability to work for their favor.

Selling techniques and strategies are not guaranteed.

They might work, or they might not work.

But the specific program has shown a pattern of success when applied to a selling situation.

And no two selling situation is alike...

That's why, contrary to being routine or scripted, salespeople are better off when they're dynamic or flexible.

In other words: they better be OPEN.

What better way to sell than this?

Share with me what you think...

Contrarian Medical Sales Techniques

There are 2 ways for medical sales reps (or any salespersons for that matter) to approach contrarian sales techniques.

The first approach is:

To look at what successful salespersons did and follow their lead.

Do what they do and expect to produce the same results they produce.

That's one approach...

The second approach is:

To find out what other drug reps are doing (the average reps) and do the opposite of what they do.

This approach is just the opposite of the first one.

Find mediocre medical sales reps and go the opposite way.

And that's the second approach...

Which approach is better?

No approach is an ideal approach.

Better or worse is define ONLY by one thing: RESULT.

If any of the approaches bring you the result you desire or meet your expectation, then that's 'better.' Of course, your best can always be made better. That's what the bosses are fond of saying.

But there's a better question to ask here...

Which approach can you apply immediately?

And why you want to apply it immediately?

Because you want IMMEDIATE result.

You don't want to wait for the grass to grow to see the result.

On top of that, you want to be able to change the approach as quickly as possible if you didn't meet your expectation.

That's is important.

The earlier you can detect things that don't work and change them with things that do work, the better off you'll be.

Why the contrarian approach?

Because the smart people before us already say that, "Average approach brings average result."

We try not to be like everyone else...

Do you want to be like everyone else?

What will your world look like if every person who walks on it is the same?

I know that some people don't appreciate being different.

They would slightly blend in and gel with others.

There's nothing wrong with blended in except (even some animals do this) it's for survival.

And again, there's nothing wrong with survival...

But imagine having SIGNIFICANCE instead of survival.

How does your life look from the perspective of significance?

Good?

Excellent?

I want to close this remark by saying this: extraordinary sales reps are not an extraordinary person, but they are ORDINARY persons do ordinary things EXTRA.

That makes them extraordinary...

(that's why they don't look like Superman, and they wear their spandex on the inside, but they do work SUPERBLY hard!)

And so can you.