Succeed Without Selling | Diane Helbig & Jeb Blount | Part One

Selling Isn’t Really About “Selling”

This Sales Gravy Podcast episode is part one of Jeb Blount’s (Virtual Selling) conversation with Diane Helbig (Succeed Without Selling) about why for business owners, entrepreneurs, and sales professionals success in selling and business growth really isn’t about “selling.” Instead, when you focus on solving problems, that’s when the real magic happens.

Why Did You Choose To Write This Book?

Diane: The book is called Succeed Without Selling: The More You Think About Selling The Less You’ll Sell. I decided to write it because so many salespeople and small business owners are, in my estimation, behaving badly because they are so focused on selling that they’re not getting what they want. They’re not getting the results that they want and it’s frustrating.

And so I thought, this is what I teach when I do sales training. What if I could put it into a book and just tell them everything about sales mindset? You know, what happens when you do this, but what happens when you do that, with scripts and, and templates in the back of the book.

If I can just give them everything, hopefully, a bell will go off in their head and they’ll start doing things differently and achieve better results.

So Why Does Being Successful in Sales Have Nothing To Do With Selling?

Diane: When salespeople are selling, they are thinking about themselves. They’re thinking about the fact that they have to hit quota, that they have to get revenue, that they have to do all of these things. Their mindset is, “I need to convince you that you need what I have to sell. I have to be eloquent enough and say the right things. I have to be persuasive.”

They do it at networking events, they do it when they’re in a sales meeting, they do it all the time. And the truth is that when salespeople behave that way, they don’t get the sale because they’re not listening. They’re not matching what they have to what that person needs. They’re not hearing what the situation is.

So that’s why I say that it’s not about selling. It’s about solving, right? It’s about connecting and making sure that it’s a good fit because that’s how you get long-term business relationships that serve your business for decades.

Sales Is Not About Selling, It’s About Solving

Jeb: I totally agree with you. Not that long ago, I was doing training out in Oregon and one of the people in my class was an ex CIA agent. I was teaching some concepts out of Sales EQ around human influence frameworks.

And he grabbed me and said, “What’s the difference between what you’re teaching and what we were doing as CIA agents? Essentially, when we were bringing people in, we were using the same frameworks you’re teaching to get people to turn over information or rat out someone else. And I said, “The human brain works the way the human brain works.”

For example, if you listen to someone, it makes them like you more. It’s just how we operate. And if they like you more and you listen to them, they’re more likely to give you something because you made them feel good. I mean, that’s just basic influence frameworks, but what you said is exactly how I explained it to him.

I said, “In your line of work, you were using these influence frameworks to manipulate people into giving you what you wanted. And in my line of work, I help people, and I solve problems.”

“I’m Not The Right Fit For You”

Jeb: The very last thing I want to do is sell someone something, or do something for someone that they don’t want or don’t need. And that doesn’t mean that I couldn’t because I’m pretty good at influencing people and persuading people. I could certainly do that.

The Seven Rules of Sales Negotiation ebook is a companion resource to Jeb Blount’s new book, INKED, that levels the playing field by giving you the strategies, tactics, techniques, skills, and human-influence frameworks required to become a powerful and effective sales negotiator. Download the FREE Seven Rules of Sales Negotiation training guide here.