Jack Carew, author of "You'll Never Get No For An Answer," tells an interesting story about sales and selling.

Not a long time ago, Jack had to participate in a military academy service honoring one of his friends. Following the ceremony, he engaged the dean of students with a simple question: "What are some of the career choices your graduates choose if they don't stay in the service?" The dean's answer was straightforward.

They had professionals — the type who go into medicine, law, engineering and teaching — and those who weren't. They ended up in sales.

Jack was shocked. As a salesperson, he had never thought of himself as someone who couldn't make it; he had always thought of himself as a professional with unusual skills and resources. But then it struck him.

He didn't have an advanced degree in selling — and that made a lot of difference to the dean, who believed salespeople suffered in terms of professional and social respectability. Plus, Jack hadn't succeeded in other professions.

It bugged Jack so much he mentioned it to his publisher at Simon & Schuster, who related a similar story.

The publisher talked about attending a prep school reunion. As his peers got around to discussing what they were doing for a living, he mumbled something about publishing, unable to say that he "sold" books for a living. And at that point, it hit him. The problem was image!

Image Issues

Salespeople today have an image problem. That and our sales training programs are at the root of our problem.

Sales training can be reduced to two forms: technical training and technique training. Technical training involves our product and involves everything from appliances to mortgages to construction methods. Technique training involves the things we do when dealing with customers, such as presenting and closing.

Technical training is what we all know as product training. It's when the manufacturer comes to your sales meeting and tells you all the cool stuff to say about their product. It's when your builder walks you through a home under construction, pointing out what great quality you have.

On the other hand, technique training is what we all recognize as sales training. That's where the out-of-town guru arrives with a bag of tricks and says you need to close harder, earlier and more often.

It may sound far-fetched, but both training methods are the source of your image problem.

How many times have you seen a new salesperson thrown to the wolves, or put in a community with virtually no training? And how many times have you seen that same new associate knock 'em dead as far as making sales? The rookie salesperson has a constant he or she can rely on:listening is his or her only skill. And if we hire right, it's the one true skill they bring to the table.

But then it disappears. After a few months of our training, associates discover something new, product knowledge — and boy, are they proud. They share it with everyone. Then comes a drop in sales. The old timers say, "I knew it couldn't last." The managers say, "I wish it would last forever." The customers say, "Whew, out of there at last." And I say, "An image problem — I know it will last."

Today's customers are equally put off by too much information and too much pressure. Today's customer is more knowledgeable and sales savvy than ever before. Ten years ago they needed you for information; today they don't.

Customers need you for specialized information, not generalized. The last thing they want to hear is the blah, blah, blah about your cabinets, countertops and insulation. And when you make that presentation, you're saying the same thing they just heard across the street and will probably be hearing next door too. Which brings us back to an image problem.

Closing the sales is the most popular sales training topic in our industry today. But have you ever

Closing the sale directly rates to image.

Have you ever wondered where all of our selling ideas come from? It has evolved from a flawed premise. Close early/close often advocates preach what they do. "Ask and you shall receive," they say. A study by Huthwaite says that's not the right approach.

Huthwaite associates are the foremost sales research experts in the world. Their results show that the more you close when you're selling a high-ticket product, the less you sell. The customer who has lots of choices, lots of things to think about and is downright confused by the sales process backs away. Such a customer will also vow never to work again with such an unprofessional salesperson. Which means we're back to the image problem.

To be successful in today's market, we need to make some changes. We need to train our sales associates to be able to use the product knowledge we provide to them. Next, we need to understand what closing the sale really means. There's too much proof that asking for the sale doesn't work. Good closers do everything they need to do make it easy for customers to say yes. We don't teach that, and we need to. And if we do those things, we'll have a good image!