Glass half full OR half empty?
Manifestations and intentions
It was a great friend and former partner of mine that brought the subject of indirection to light. He called me a master of indirection; and, when I asked him what he meant it was with an elevated disposition to say the least. I didn’t appreciate being labeled something I was unable to surmise and his opinion of me was very important. Heck, I thought he was disparaging my character.
He began explaining his comment by making pertinent references to my somewhat every day performance. It was as he unmasked my intentions that the relevancy of his statement began to take shape in my mind’s eye. You see, being in sales, the preparations I went through routinely had great purpose. I was always trying to generate sales and attract new business.
He is one of the wisest men I know, and made me realize that my well conceived sales process was designed to manifest strong results in an absolutely indirect way. The more he spoke the clearer a picture of myself developed. It became clear that I was really never selling my goods at all. Instead, I was helping my intended customer sell them for me.
In fact, whenever I found that my diligence to this sales process was lacking in effort, I would corrupt and discredit my salesmanship putting my customer on the offensive to assure me of my value and great help. That being said, I was always cognizant of my surroundings, the level of reception I held, and the purpose of my words. I never failed to be a steadfast listener and especially humble and grateful for the sales that proceeded.
Psychological profiling
The truth is, I could never pass the psychological profiling of a person most suited for a life of selling. This, I was told many times by numerous firms for which I had applied for sales positions. The whole profiling issue got me so disconcerted, that it became the essential ingredient in my quest to prove all those so called sales gurus wrong.
I never really thought about the art of indirection, as my friend named it. I just thought that I brought something refreshing and different to the process of selling. In my mind, I always labeled it as yielding. Trying to help people help themselves and making a living doing so seemed so much easier than selling for the company. Being a company man was the last thing on my mind.
I was always a good story teller. Most of my clientele were happy to exchange life’s changing moments with me. This not only made a customer more comfortable it opened the doors for me to empower them.
I’m just a guy who likes to take great big concepts of how things function and break them down in simple terms. I enjoy making the complex easy by looking at it in its simplest form. It was this process that ultimately became my basis for yielding! Thus, my selling became unembarrassed, spontaneous and manageable.
Most of my customers were eager and receptive to giving me leads. These leads were quite solid and of great value to me. Respect for my clientele was always answered with great respect.
Prestige
To all those that broke records in sales, whether it be in volume or revenue, the prestige that went with these triumphs was and will undoubtedly remain their driving force.
I’m now retired over two years and after forty years in sales, I can honestly admit that prestige was never a driving force. For me, it was always about the friendships I found along my journey and the lasting episodes we created together.
In conclusion
The art of indirection might well have been created to prove a point to myself. I really was a sucker for a good sales presentation when I was young. The result of which was buyer’s remorse when faced with the truth of being sold something absolutely worthless for my immediate needs and/or situation.
Today, I only acknowledge those salespersons who are willing to tell me something about themselves, enlighten me with evidence of something I may have missed and listen carefully to what I am asking them.
