For a hard-working, resilient, fun-loving nation we Aussies have not exactly led the world in innovation.
Yes…we have pockets of ground breaking success such as the Cochlear Implant, Penicillin, the Pacemaker and even the Wi-Fi you’re using right now.
But we don’t have a Silicon Valley or an Israeli Technology Culture.
So, we import stuff like Ikea furniture, European cars and…sales methodologies.
We deploy these methodologies despite a glaring mismatch between the natural, conversational Aussie style of communication and the prescriptive methods these techniques and templates recommend.
We do not have the formality of France, Germany or even the UK.
We do not inherently have the ‘control the sale’ mentality of Donald Trump’s America.
We also do not have the hierarchies and reverence of China, Singapore, Japan or Korea.
So, why would we change our language, style and approach simply because we’re engaged in selling?
In fact, we should be exporting our conversational style to the world because in B2B Sales today, clients are sicker than the Donald’s hair at being pushed, challenged and sausage machined to buy.
Those of you who have been through one of my Salient Programs know that it is liberating, exciting, natural and engaging for clients when you speak like a real human being rather than sounding like Stephen Hawking reading a sales playbook.
Clients don’t want your canned, qualifying questions – they know what you’re trying to do.
They don’t want your hubris, when you tell them you know better when they have 25 years experience in their own industry.
They want someone they can trust to listen (and I don’t mean for buying signals).
They want someone who can pitch an idea only when it’s in full context of the client’s overall success.
They want someone who says ‘Mate, you haven’t got enough budget to do what you really need to do’ as opposed to ‘I’ll see what I can do on the price to get it over the line’
They want someone who is authentic, not doing a really good job of pretending to be authentic.
I’m calling it AUSthenticity….now that’s not only going to help you win business wherever you are in the world, it’s actually worth bottling and exporting.
Elliot Epstein is a leading Pitch Consultant, Keynote Speaker, Corporate trainer who gets sales results rapidly.
He has coached and trained high profile corporates globally in presenting, selling, negotiating and pitching. He has spoken at over 1500 conferences and workshops for leading companies such as HP, SEEK, Avaya, Hitachi, Computershare and CUB.
He is internationally renowned for being refreshingly engaging, brutally honest and relevant to winning business in highly competitive markets.
Elliot is based in Melbourne where he lives with his wife and two increasingly expensive children.
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