You can only sell Ice to a stupid Eskimo

“We can sell Ice to Eskimos”

That is one quote I have heard so-called “Good Sales” people chant over and over again.

For the records Eskimos as defined by Wikipedia, are the indigenous peoples who have traditionally inhabited the northern circumpolar region from eastern Siberia (Russia), across Alaska (United States), Canada, and Greenland.

Simply put, Eskimos inhabit the north pole and consequently they have ICE IN EXCESS all year round. So why SELL ICE to somebody that has it in Excess.

So what am I driving at this time, a good sales person (whether man or woman or robot) is NOT someone who can sell Ice to an Eskimo but someone can sell heating equipments to an eskimo. (That’s what they need).

That also brings me to the much “mistakened”  difference between a SALESPERSON and a MARKETER.

A Sales person as the name implies is out there to SELL whether it is ICE to an ESKIMO or Water to a CROSSRIVERIAN or COAL to somebody from Enugu (the Coal City State).

A Marketer on the other hand is out there to create a MARKET (a medium that brings buyers with specific needs in contact with sellers who have what the buyers need).

A Marketer is not someone who adorns him/herself in the “JERSEY” of an organization trying to SELL some product or service.

A Marketer in the real sense is a SOLUTIONS HAWKER, they bring solutions to PEOPLE who need them.

But as it stands, You can make a MARKETER out of a SALESPERSON the same way you can make a SALESPERSON out of a MARKETER. The underlining factor is are they selling SOLUTIONS or just some products or service (just to meet the company’s target perhaps).

The next time you hear someone brag about being able to SELL ICE to an ESKIMO, kindly help me remind them that they can only sell ICE to a (very) STUPID Eskimo.

I rather SELL Heaters to an ESKIMO than ICE.

 

#Suceed my friend it non-negotiable… but if you must suceed, you must sell SOLUTIONS.