How 5 Days in Loans Transformed My View on Sales

Old school sales techniques

Ugh. Old school sales techniques. Overcoming objections. Convincing people they want something they don’t really want. Wounded masculine on the hunt, getting high off dopamine-chasing and closing.

There’s a reason we all hate being sold to—and a reason so many of us hate doing sales. (Yes, me absolutely included.)

What I’ve been telling myself

The stories I tell myself about sales have landed in the space of “I only want to sell to people who already value what I have. I don’t want to convince anyone to want what I’m offering,” etc etc. And yes, those things are true. 

I’ve hired coaches who teach how to completely manipulate people into buying through hypno techniques, camera angles, trance induction and so many fucked up things that prey on people’s unconscious responsiveness rather than getting a conscious and clear yes. 

I have worked for people who try to teach me to sell the way they do by overcoming objections, turning a 

“maybe, but I don’t know that I would really use it” into a “yes” which probably actually means 

“I’m going to let this money come out of my account for the next few months, not take advantage of it and then get more and more resentful that I’m signed up for this membership but keep telling myself I’m going to use it until I finally cancel it with a month left to utilize the 13 credits I let build up and now I’ve wasted all that money and I feel guilty and angry all at once.” because the salesperson wanted to hit their monthly quota

In these cases, I have walked away due to lack of alignment and major ick.

Even though I walked away, I know selling has a place in my landscape and is, in fact, CRUCIAL if I’m to have a business in the way I want it, so what’s next? 

Listening to these work calls

I am a person who often heads right into the belly of the beast when I am repeatedly challenged by something, especially if it’s something I want to get a hold of. So, I got a job as a loan officer to refi car loans. There are more reasons than this, but one of them is that I want to sell. 

I’m still in training- halfway through the two weeks. There are some real life sales calls we can listen to as examples of pitches. I played some of them to get familiar with this company’s process and hear about the products they offer. 

As I listened to the calls, I heard how the practiced loan officer went through the script. I could simultaneously hear my own voice and how I would’ve moved through the script fresh off the boat. I recognized a deep disparity. 

My voice would have gone down. I would have put a question mark at the end of my sentences. I would have had the inflection and energy of 

“I’m assuming you don’t want this but I’m going to ask you if you do just in case and hope you’ll buy it and even though you’re getting everything you want from this transaction I feel guilty that I’m also going to get what I want.”

It is my natural and unconscious assumption that if I’m selling something to someone they don’t already want it. 

This was wild to me. These Loan Specialists on these calls truly were offering savings and benefits for each caller, as I will be doing too. Yes, they’re getting commission out of it, but they’re selling something the customer wants. Just like when I bought my car, they sold me these same things which I totally wanted. And still do. 

I don’t feel manipulated or taken advantage of. I knew I’d be paying more money on the regular for a little more peace of mind. And I was and am fully willing to do it. 

It’s also wild to know this assumption (that people don’t want what I’m selling) for sure translates to my business. My business that changes the lives of every person it touches. My business where I get to be in my zone of genius, delivering multi-dimensional impact to individuals who want a different kind of life from the one they’re living. Everyone wants this to some degree. Fascinating that I make the assumption that they don’t because they wouldn’t want it from me

I still don’t have it figured out yet, but I’m clocking it

I still don’t have it figured out yet. My recognition of this programming just rose to the surface a few hours ago. I can see it and apply it in this loan specialist position. I don’t yet have it in my business (but I’m not in a rush).

This idea that selling to someone means we are on opposite sides of a transaction and I need to get them on my side is the old way. The idea that we’re on the same side of the transaction, really working toward the same solution is where I aim to come from. It’s what I naturally do in my actual work. I just have to translate it to the selling portion also.