03.31.08
Superman or Salesman? Solution or Sap?
How are you perceived, labeled, and described by the people whom you meet and those who truly know you? Are you a pain in the ass, the guy next door, just another typical, desperate salesman, or the Knight in Shining Armor, the Guardian Angel, the Magic Bullet, the Genie in a Lamp? Are you a time waster or a solution provider? Are you interpreted as pain or profit? Do people eagerly switch off the phones, make time, and cancel appointments to meet with you? Or do they make excuses, elude you, and hide away from you?
When your entire raison d’etre is to sell them something, regardless of what they want or need, or take something without generous recompense and reward, you’re just another begging peasant pretending to be an entrepreneur. When you pitch and push and vomit your “Elevator Speech” over everyone in sight, you’re just another parasite, a mosquito to be evaded, a leech to be squished. You’re like the smoker outside the mall entrance - someone to be despised, avoided, shunned, and glared at. But when you are a solution incarnate, a bridge to better business, a Horn of Plenty, a Fixer, a profitable partner, you’re welcomed like the Prodigal Son.
You control your label, and the label had better be a true indication of what’s inside the bottle. Too many people label rat poison with “Your Friendly Uncle”, but they don’t last long; you can fool some of the people some of the time… You decide how you will be perceived, and whether you will be sought after or excluded. How do you become a magnet, a center of attention, a golden child? By BECOMING a solution. That, after all, is what a genuine Joint Venture Broker is. Some think a JV Broker is someone searching for people to promote their product. No - that’s a stupid salesperson who doen’t understand what a broker is. That person is simply broke. In more ways than one. A real broker is a solution provider that gets well paid for his service.
Genuine, 24-Carat Joint Venture Brokers are honestly interested in helping others solve their problems, diminish their pain, and achieve their objectives, by linking them up with others and getting paid a piece of the resulting, ongoing profits. Real JV Brokers are actually catalysts, links, solutions, facilitators, synergists. The JV Broker is a rain maker, a lightning rod, an energizer, who flies in through the window like Superman to help you solve your overwhelming problems and link you to the resources you need. Everyone loves Smiling Superman, but we loathe slick salespeople. People are generally more sophisticated, cynical, and sensitive than we think.
A real Joint Venture Broker is sans ego, sans hidden agenda, sans ulterior motives or manipulative moves. He is usually an invited guest, for whom the best chair at the table is reserved. His coat is taken by a deferent manservant and he is served first by doting waiters, because he has earned the respect of all. You can have whatever you want by providing others with what they want.
Robin J. Elliott www.DollarMakers.com
