𝗔 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗧𝗼 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁

Michael Dunlevy

12d • General Discussion

𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨.

I stopped writing and posting content regularly 8 months ago.

Before that, I shared my thoughts - first on Facebook, later on Substack and LinkedIn.

I did this daily for five years.

It worked.

It forced me to unpack my thoughts and put them into written words, which gave me a clearer relationship with them - and far better use of them on calls.

It brought great people into my world. Every client I’ve taken on in my coaching business came from those posts or from referrals. I’ve never run a paid ad.

It worked for my students too. Many of them built visibility, a network and credibility through their own posts, and went on to land much better selling roles.

Yet I stopped.

Why?

Because I no longer wanted to do it.

I was more drawn to other things than to daily writing.

And that reason - wanting something, or no longer wanting it - is something I talk about all the time with the sales pros I coach.

The stage where decisions switch from primarily a “need” or “feeling they should” (obligation) to a “want”.

It’s a big switch.

Early on, or when we’re operating from lack or scarcity, it’s mostly need. Sometimes obligation.

“I need to do this...”

“I really should do that...”

I’ve been there.

When I started posting five years ago, I needed things.

I needed to sharpen my thinking, my conviction in my positions and how I communicated.

I needed visibility, because I still felt unknown in the remote selling world.

I needed new relationships that could lead to better opportunities.

Later, as I moved into coaching, I needed credibility. I needed my first paying students. I needed to share their wins to find the next ones.

These needs led to great outcomes.

Five years on, my situation has changed.

I’m fortunate to now make decisions in my sales work and my coaching work based on want.

What I want to do.

What I’m drawn to.

Who I want to help and be around.

What I will allow, and what I won’t.

This is a distinction I see many sales professionals miss on their calls.

They assume the sale has to always come from need - “they really need this”, “they really should do this” - when the person in front of them is there for a want.

So, there’s a disconnect and the call falls apart.

The feelings and the language of need and obligation are different from the feelings and the language of want and preference.

A true professional diagnoses quickly which one is in play and orients the call around it.

Speak the language of need to someone here for want, and you’ll repel them.

Speak the language of want to someone here for need, and you’ll never get enough buy-in.

So I’m back here writing. Not because I need to be. Because I want to.

Time away from writing has freshened me up and I want to be back in the public conversation.

I still sell every week, to 5–10 founders and CEOs who mostly buy for want, not need.

I get clarity early on these sales calls on their motivation, I test that (to make sure it’s real) and then we build the call around that desire, their capabilities and their willingness to act on it.

I coach sales pros through exactly how to sell to prospects like these too.

Many sales pros initially see their success and prosperity linked to “need” and “should”.

Need to make more calls.

Should push harder.

Need to be able to overcome more late objections.

Should be further along by now.

The ones who reach the highest levels have stopped running on “need” and “should”.

They reach a place where they can start choosing based on “wants” - the calls they take, the offers they sell, the buyers they’ll work with, what they’ll allow and what they won’t.

Their calls change because they did.

What they get from these calls - sales results and feelings - changes positively too.

Back to me…

Most people who teach sales stopped selling years ago. I didn’t.

I still sell - at the highest level I know - and I teach sales professionals to create, and actually implement, their own version of what I do.

From today onwards I will once again regularly share what I’m seeing out there and what you might want to know too

2 comments

𝗔 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗧𝗼 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁