ARE YOU SELLING NATURALLY?
An Interview with MICHAEL OLIVER founder of Natural Selling® and author of "How To Sell Network Marketing Without Fear, Anxiety or Losing Your Friends!" By Paula Feather.
I recently had the privilege of interviewing Michael by phone when he was in Canada.
PF: How did you come to call your business Natural Selling and what were the processes that led you to where you are now?
Michael: "I began my selling career, selling solar energy systems for apartment buildings and then energy conservation in Southern California twenty-two years ago. The form of selling I was taught and using was very conventional. It was basically about presenting and persuading and being able to handle rejection and objections. I thought that was what you were meant to do, and that was what selling was all about. Even though we were trained to concentrate on people’s needs, the real focus was on getting the sale. It was a process I used successfully and I enjoyed the money and freedom that being my own boss gave me."
"However, it had its downside. It was a very uncomfortable process, not only for me but also for my potential customers. The reason was, that the focus was on getting the sale, attempting to evade objections and rejection, and not really concentrating on the real needs and problems of the customer. It was quite adversarial.”
"It was as a student of Wilson Learning, that I started to learn the art of asking questions more effectively and understood better why people bought. But the process was still quite manipulative, and was still ‘getting the sale’ oriented."
"Then a major breakthrough happened. I learned to listen and interact more and let go of concentrating on the sale and simply focused on discovering if there was a problem I could help solve. That’s all! By doing so, I was able to concentrate 100% on the other person, and if there was a problem, it allowed me to be more creative in offering a solution, whether it was with my products or services, or someone else’s. This approach might sound crazy to some salespeople, and corporations have a hard time understanding this, but the energy of our own needs, such as needing to make the sale, or needing the other person have a problem, gets in our way and prevents us from achieving the very thing we want! So it’s just a matter of letting go our needs and focus 100% on theirs. The outcome is really a result of the integrity of the process. The sale is a natural result of the process. People like doing business with people who they feel understands them.”
So I learned how to involve the potential customer, through "The Magic and Power of Dialogue," by letting go of the need to make the sale, and instead seeking to be of service. When seeking to serve, you ultimately serve yourself. This is how Natural Selling came into being."
PF: How did you learn and practice those concepts?
Michael: "As I mentioned, I discovered the reason why objections and rejection arose was because I created it… and I was uncomfortable with the conventional process. People picked up on this and returned the same energy. So a lot of effort went into it. So by changing the energy and focus, and instead of using selling techniques, I developed Four Natural Selling Principles. And through the use of Dialogue tapped into the Universal Laws of Attraction. The process of selling then turned effortless.”
"I read a lot about the topic of energy as well. Especially in the work of Deepak Chopra, and later came to be an accredited trainer with Deepak Chopra, on "The 7 Spiritual Laws of Success in the Workplace". I’ve adapted that work into, “Manifesting ‘The 7 Spiritual Laws of Success’ Through Natural Selling.”
PF: Tell me about the Four Principles within Natural Selling, that you developed?
Michael: "They work on the basis that if you understand the philosophy of something then you can easily attach the mechanics of selling."
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"The first Principle is the cornerstone one. Selling is Helping People Solve Their Problems. It’s about coming from a place of service. It might seem obvious, but most sales people concentrate on getting the sale, and if they’re dong that, are they serving themselves or their customers? Self-service or Customer-service?
It also means coming from a place of purpose. That purpose is simply to help people and doing it be letting go of our own needs. Our own needs will be taken care of. This is the essence of Natural Selling. To be of service you ultimately serve yourself."
PF: You suggest that the salesperson should spend more time listening then presenting. Is there a 'certain' way to listen?
Michael: "In my work I teach How to Listen and What to Listen For. And I don’t mean listening for what you want to hear. If you do that, you’re likely to end up being disappointed. There is a way you can listen 100% to another person, and in doing so you will everything you need to know. So will they, because they hear themselves talk and process what they are saying. They will ultimately return the gift by listening to you. Let go of the need to solve the problem and listen more, and ask questions about what is going on behind the problem."
"The idea is to allow the other person to find their own truth - listen to where they are coming from. People have the answers. They know what they want and why they want it. They have the history of what is going on and what led to their present circumstances. If they’re not getting what they want, then it’s likely they don’t have the right solution. We might well have. But if we don’t listen, because we’re so focused on using techniques and saying what we want to say, we’ll never hear what they are saying.
"People are automatically drawn to you because of how you listen, what questions you ask and how you ask them. Knowing the right questions to ask and when to ask them involves people and allows them to draw a picture of what they want. Out of this a bond is created, especially if the salesperson is coming from a place of service rather than manipulation."
PF: Tell me about the "Magic and Power of Dialogue?"
Michael: "Dialogue has a magical attraction energy. It is about asking Questions, Listening and Feedback through interaction. These three things form the other three principles behind Natural Selling. They are the mechanics of Natural Selling. They are also the Mechanics of Dialogue and make Natural Selling, well…; Natural!”
“Dialogue is a heart based way of talking, which shows that you genuinely care about your customer."
"Socrates perfected this twenty four hundred years ago by allowing people to ask questions, to listen and to interact. He allowed people to talk about themselves and helped guide them through his questions allowing them to challenge their own beliefs, their own ideas and their own thoughts. By allowing them to challenge themselves he helped open them up, and in the process both parties usually discovered something."
"Like Socrates the salesperson has to stay open and totally suspend their prejudices, beliefs, interpretation of what the other person is saying, the need to make a sale, the need to hope there is a problem, the need to talk and present and tell people things."
PF: How would you sum up the essence of Natural Selling®?
Michael: "Listen, ask and feedback what you have heard. Let go of your attachment to the outcome. That will take care of itself. By letting go of the outcome, you will naturally increase your income!’
Michael will be visiting New Zealand in November to give a series of evening seminars and talks about "The Magic and Power of Dialogue"… Effective Selling From the Soul. He will also be talking about "How to Manifest the ‘7 Spiritual Laws of Success' through Natural Selling," and conduction two 2-Day weekend workshops in Nelson and Auckland.
Contact information:
www.naturalselling.com
Phone: 775.886.0777 |
