Are you being too pushy?

// A recollection

I was a sales manager once and it was my responsibility to move the needle - I had a team of people who I needed to motivate and lead into a sales battle.

I can’t remember the exact target but we were close to hitting it and our team was super motivated, I had a great routine of monthly meetings going and we reviewed everything all the time. The machine was working well except for one little cog.

Sales meetings should be a place of friendly banter, it should be a place where we can call people out and there be no hard feelings and it should be a place where we find solace in our teammates so that we can use their collective knowledge to drive our own work forwards.

But you have to remember, your job is to sell.

Without selling, the company grinds to a halt and we have no work. You can’t motivate the production or operations team to work harder if there isn’t anything stoking the fire - sales is the lifeblood.

In this particular sales meeting, we were reviewing our numbers and I’m going to use example numbers but they were on the same scale and comparatively speaking, they're kind of there but one of my sales reps with a monthly target of around £30k per month was only quoting £3k.

Yep - £3k.

If he’d continued on that path for a whole year and he was 100% successful in his quoting, then we’d hit the heady heights of £36k per year - 10% of where I needed this person to be.

So, as with every other sales meeting - I called him out.

Explained the situation and that the money he was ‘quoting’ barely paid his wages, gave us no profit and more importantly (because he works in sales) meant he wouldn’t hit his target.. EVER.

His response?

“I don’t want to be too pushy”

// Fine Line

Now, understand this - no sales rep or anyone involved in sales ever wants to appear to be too pushy. No good salesperson ever sets out to push the boundaries that much that means that the client/prospect is that uncomfortable as it doesn’t bode well for the future.

Being pushy is a short term game.

It’s normally reserved for those people who need to sell something quick, to make a quick buck and then leave - the most important part of that sentence is ‘leave’.

If they leave, they don’t have to worry about the consequences afterwards - it’s not a long term thing.

But you have to be persistent and you have to believe in what you’re selling to remain committed.

It’s an interesting perspective to either be pushy or persistent and its one thing this particular sales rep failed to grasp.

The art of selling is the way we can create opportunities - you have to work yourself into a position which allows you to solve a particular problem and without that particular skill, you’re left to be a commodity item.

It’s not as simple as the infamous Jordan Belfort question of ‘Sell me this pen'‘ because that’s a physical product with a clear need or purpose. It could be as complicated as ‘saving time’ or ‘streamlining process’ - without the skill set to identify the need and then position yourself as the solution, you always run the risk of being too pushy.

// Boundaries

Being too pushy often involves disregarding or crossing personal or professional boundaries which are, in many ways, unspoken boundaries - excitement and enthusiasm can play a part in breaking down these boundaries early on in a sales career when you have a young sales professional who thinks he’s being good at sales but in reality, he’s just being a c*ck.

The problem with boundless energy is that you need to point it in the right direction and often when you’re young, you think that enough effort will pay off and you’ll get the rewards..

You know the type - the 19/20 year old salesperson who wants to impress you in the local TV store but telling you all you there is to know about the latest model but you’re interested in a washing machine instead of a TV - those boundaries are unwritten and shouldn’t ever really be crossed.

Being persistent, on the other hand, respects these boundaries while still actively pursuing opportunities through respectful follow-ups and engagement.

Asking questions, engaging in conversation and not expecting to sell anything are the fundamentals here - quiet, diligent persistence.

// Monologues

The problem with that 20 year old TV salesperson (and it’s probably the opposite for my old sales rep) is that the conversation turns monologue - there is no dialogue.

If you’re dominating the conversation, pushing the product or service without understanding the what someone’s needs are, you’re going to be dictating what they need instead of discovering or creating that need. Believe it or not, selling is a two way street, you need to have input from the buyer otherwise you’re only serving to create a situation which means that you’re ‘selling’ to those who don’t want to be sold to.

Whenever you picture a ‘bad’ salesperson - just do that for a second - you’re probably picturing someone who doesn’t listen to you and wants to sell to you regardless.

This is what I mean when it comes to communicating through a monologue.

I would implore you to ask questions, even the most basic ones to open up someone who you’re selling to - get the client to talk about themselves more than you talk about your product and slowly, but surely, you’ll end up uncovering a particular nugget of information which allows you to offer a solution.

Remember persistence involves active listening, understanding the client's requirements, and then tailoring responses to address their specific challenges or goals - that is your job.

// Converse.

Having a conversation and going ‘off piste’ mean you’re being fluid in the sale - if I came up to you in the street and only asked you 5 specific questions to find out whether you wanted my service (and it would only ever be the same five questions until I go the answers I needed) then you’d think I was being a dick.

You know the people I mean, those who approach you at an event or a party and while they’re talking to you, they scan the room, looking for the next big opportunity for them to sell - they are only interested in what they can get from you and they are not overly concerned with you.

This is where you can appear pushy.

‘Pushiness’ tends to stick to a rigid script or approach, regardless of whether someone wants to have a conversation with you or ask you something in return - you’re unable to adapt and be flexible, you’re unable to adjust your demeanour or give relative feedback to the client so you end up doing what I said at the start - asking the same questions to garner a response and from that response, you know if you can get a sale or not.

It’s not a conscious thing - you literally only want to find out if they want to buy (no harm in that) but for long term relationships and long term success, you need them to trust you - trust is built two ways.

// Emotional Intelligence

All of this boils down to emotional IQ.

It’s where most salespeople fail - the empathy, the relation building and understanding of certain situations.

Emotional intelligence means you have the ability to recognize, understand, manage, and effectively express your own emotions, as well as to perceive, interpret, and respond appropriately to the emotions of your clients.

It encompasses a range of skills and qualities that can help you to navigate social situations, build and maintain relationships, and cope with the demands and challenges of daily life - if you’re solely focused on the outcome, you’ll never succeed.

To bring this full circle - my old sales rep wasn’t being too pushy, he wasn’t being persistent - he just wasn’t doing his job.

His job was to do all of these things, be emotionally intelligent, be able to have a conversation, have an open dialogue but all while respecting someones boundaries - these are all fundamentals when it comes to building a sales pipeline and ultimately allowing a company to grow.

If you’re ever wondering whether you’re being too pushy - look at yourself and the first thing you can do is ask.

Ask your client - am I being too pushy?