People Don’t Want to Be Sold

People don’t want to be sold. They want to buy. Do you think those sentences are contradictory? Consider this:

Think about what happens when you walk into a retail store. An attendant usually comes up to you and asks, “May I help you?”

You typically respond, “No, thank you. I’m just looking.”

In all likelihood, that’s not true. You’re not just looking. You’re hoping to be buying. But you’d prefer to be left alone to buy what you want — or to buy what you need — in your own time, without pressure from a salesperson.

Now think about this: You walk into that same retail store. The attendant approaches and says, “Hi. I know you’re probably just looking. So, please free and take your time. If you need help, I’ll be right over there. And if you’re interested, I can probably help you save 40 percent of the time you’d otherwise spend here.” Then she walks away.

What happened there? The attendant realized that your need to buy from her was much more important than her need to sell to her. She approached you with the intent to serve you and to make your visit to the store valuable.

No, This is Not Retail

It’s obvious enough that core processing software is not a retail sale. Core processing software is not a a commodity. It’s not an impulse buy. But it does serve business needs. And it does provide value.

That’s why we don’t run ads that say, “We won’t be undersold!” It’s why we don’t run limited-time discount offers. It’s why we cultivate trusting relationships, stand by our customers, provide the services they need to ensure the success of the implementations, and continue to enhance, improve, and add new functional capabilities to our software.

“Why are you telling us this?”

We thought you’d never ask. We’re telling you this because if our desire to sell you our software exceeds your desire to buy it — and to work with us for the good of your company — we’re doing it wrong. And if we come with any intention other than to serve you and to help you achieve your objectives, it’s the wrong intention.

If you’ve ever seen a demo of our software, you know it practically sells itself anyway.

If you haven’t, why not?