Time to clear this one up
I need to get this one off my chest…
It’s a saying that has bugged me for the 20 years that I’ve been in sales & marketing.
I’m sure you’ve heard it before:
He/She is such a good Sales Person, they could Sell Ice to Eskimos!
Sound familiar?
What people really mean when they say that, is:
That person is so skilled that they can get people to buy things, who really have no business buying that thing… Isn’t that amazing!
So let me just obliterate this misconception once and for all…
Selling ice to Eskimos doesn’t make someone a good sales person…
In fact, depending on how they do it…
…it might actually make them a horrible human being, on top of being a TERRIBLE sales person.
The Best sales people ARE NOT selling ice to Eskimos
Metaphorically speaking…
The best sales people are not selling ice to Eskimos…
They are either:
- Selling ice to people who desperately want ice… (Finding the right AUDIENCE for the product/service)
- Selling other products/services to Eskimos that they desperately want, or that fills a real need. (Selling the right PRODUCTS/SERVICES to that specific target audience)
What makes the best Sales & marketing people the best, is that they are busy generating the Best Customers. They are not selling whomever they can, just to drive fluffy volume.
The best customers are the people who genuinely value the offering (much more than they value the money they pay for the offering)… Anyone not involved in generating the best customers, is a terrible sales person, and frankly just needs to go.
‘Best Customers’ still need help being sold
Unfortunately, just because someone has the potential of being a best customer, doesn’t mean they are ready to throw money at you…
They still need to be courted, nurtured and sold.
Generations of ‘Ice To Eskimo’ type sales has left people a little reluctant to trust true intentions of any sales campaign.
Most of the time, even those best customers need help understanding how and why they should value the offering so much. That’s where truly great sales & marketing people come in. Once those best customers do clearly understand why they should value the offer so much, it is a match made in heaven. Not a bait & switch.
Best customers are NOT coming in because someone pulled the wool over their eyes, just to make a quick sale, and then get out of there…
That’s a con job! (We hate those!)
Best customers had someone help them clearly see the value of doing business with you.
There is no honor, or long-term success in ‘Ice to Eskimos’ sales
I’m tired of people wearing that ‘Ice to Eskimos‘ phrase like a badge of honour…
It’s nothing more than a dirtbag peddling garbage to people who shouldn’t buy it in the first place…
There is no honor in that, and there is no long term success in it either.
If you are going to win in the long run, you are going to have to expect better than that out of your people. They will need to learn to resonate value with your ideal target audience, and stop bringing in the wrong types of ‘Ice To Eskimos‘ type of sales.
Go find a need and fill that need. Help those people understand why you are the best one to help them fill that need.
The best way to help them understand…
is to understand them better than anyone else.
Understand their wants. Understand why they want those wants. Understand their needs, their fears, and their concerns. Understand how they speak, what they like, what they hate, who they trust, and who they listen to.
The best sales & marketing people are ‘Best Customer’ Whisperers. They are not Ice selling to Eskimos.
Demand More
So demand more from yourself and from your sales & marketing staff to get the right messaging through to the right people…
Remember the best sales & marketing people bring in the best customers. Anything else is just a short-term win but a long-term loss for everyone. It destroys companies, it destroys consumers, it destroys trust, which destroys free economies…
Don’t do it!
Content upgrade: I will show you the exact process I go through before launching any new campaign to get clear on the messaging that will resonate with the target audience.
