The ‘Flashy Salesman’ Stigma – Avoid It At All Costs
The ‘flashy salesman’ – it’s a common persona that’s given the sales profession a bad name.
And by flashy salesman – I mean someone who sticks out or is remembered by their potential clients for all the wrong reasons.
In this guide, you’ll learn why you want to avoid the ‘flashy salesman’ stereotype, and what you should focus on instead.
The ‘Flashy Salesman’ – Avoid It At All Costs
Why The ‘Flashy Salesman’ Look Will Lead To Disaster
The ‘flashy salesman’ look as it can be called, is inherently a bad way to be positioning yourself to your potential clients.
The reason being is due to rapport.
When potential clients meet with Sales Professionals, they want someone to be dressed in a way that resembles a similar attire to how they would also be dressed.
People like people who are similar to them. People also trust people who are similar to them.
And potential clients buy from Sales Professionals they trust.
When you dress in a way that’s too flashy and creates the appearance that you’re trying too hard, you’ll break rapport – and therefore you won’t establish trust.
Ensure when you’re dressing for sales, that you dress in a way that isn’t too flashy and aligns with how your potential clients would expect a trusted adviser to dress.
Look professional – but don’t overdo it. To learn more, read the related article below.
Related article: How To Dress For Sales Success – A Guide
The ‘Flashy Salesman’ Usually Makes It About Them
If a ‘flashy salesman’ is going through the effort to overtly peacock in a way that’s over the top – then there’s a safe assumption that they also are going to be quite self-centred.
If you make it about yourself in sales, you won’t be successful and will remain mediocre.
The reason being, is sales is all about your potential client. It’s about:
- Learning about their ideal future
- What results and outcomes are they looking
- Their pain points, and what frustrates them
- Learning if you can actually solve their problems
- Offering them a solution to their issues, and desires
By making it all about themselves; a ‘flashy salesman’ robs themselves of the opportunity to follow the right sales process, and truly serve their potential clients.
Similarly – a famous line in sales is to ‘Always Be Closing’.
Much like the narrative mentioned above; this also can hurt your sales. Read the article below to find out why.
Further reading: Always Be Closing – Why This Is Terrible Advice
The ‘Flashy Salesman’ Generally Pitches Too Early
As mentioned above, the ‘flashy salesman’ generally makes the sales conversation about themselves, their product and their service.
Due to not focusing on the potential client, they also tend to pitch too early, which can again cost you the sale.
As per our article in Entrepreneur; we call this Premature Presentation.
Premature presentation and the ‘flashy salesman’ stigma go hand on hand – they pitch first, and hope something sticks to the point the potential client will buy.
Pitching too early hurts your sales efforts, because sales is all about empathy.
And to learn about your potential client and build empathy, you need to ask well crafted questions.
Below is a related article we recommend you read, so you can learn the types of questions that uncover pain points, their desires, and whether you can or not in fact serve their needs.
Related article: Sales Probing Questions – 20 x To Use Daily
Other Common ‘Flashy Salesman’ Attributes
Below is a list of other common attributes usually associated with the ‘flashy salesman’.
They Have An Excessive Desire To Receive Praise
A common characteristic of the ‘flashy salesman’, is they tend to always look for praise from others.
The reason being, is contrary to how they may appear- they generally have a low sense of self-esteem.
Generally – they love those who praise them and their efforts and will despise people who don’t give them the attention they constantly seek.
They Overcompensate For Their Weaknesses
Another characteristic of the ‘flashy salesman’, is that they overcompensate for their weaknesses.
True leaders and Sales Professionals aren’t afraid to show their weaknesses, because they know it’s a part of just being human.
People who are generally comfortable showing their weaknesses are more creative, have a better communication flow, build empathy quicker, and identify problems a lot earlier.
The ‘flashy salesman’ however tries to hide weaknesses, so they overcompensate with their dress code, overt behaviour, and mannerisms.
They Have Issues Closing Sales
Lastly – the ‘flashy salesman’ generally doesn’t do well in sales, because as mentioned; they have an issue building rapport and empathy with their potential clients.
In order to close sales consistently, you need to be an excellent communicator, and an expert at reading your potential clients.
Without rapport and making the conversation about your potential client – the ‘flashy salesman’ continues to make it about them, which doesn’t allow them to get in a deep enough conversation to learn what it is the potential client actually wants to buy.
What Should You Do Instead
As you can probably get from reading this article; we’re not a fan of the ‘flashy salesman’ type at all.
Your potential clients want to speak with someone they can trust and asks questions that truly gets to their pain points and needs.
People want to speak with a specialist; a person who positions themselves as a trusted adviser.
Due to the ‘flashy salesman’ making it about them; they fail to even get this far, not only hurting their own sales, but also the reputation of the industry.
We highly recommend following a proven sales process, that can help guide your potential clients towards the sale and positions you as a trusted authority.
Further reading: The Sales Process – A Step By Step Guide
Final Thoughts On The ‘Flashy Salesman’
The ‘flashy salesman’ as it is referred to, is an old stereotype that unfortunately rears its head in the world of sales from time to time.
We recommend staying away from this persona, and instead focusing on following a process that ask questions, and helps your potential clients sell themselves.
The more empathetic you can be with your potential clients, the more sales you’ll close.
Want To Close Sales Easier?
Are you committed to closing sales a lot easier, and consistently?
If so, you should check out our self-paced and affordable online sales training program; The 5% Sales Blueprint.
It’ll give you everything you need to close sales consistently.
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