One of the phrases I’ve hated most throughout my entire career is:
“I could sell ice to Eskimos.”
Twenty years ago, when I was interviewing salespeople, I’d hear it constantly.
“My mum says I could sell ice to Eskimos.”
“I’m the type of person who could sell ice to Eskimos.”
Then I’d run training sessions and there was always one.
The bolshy one.
The one who sat at the back with his arms folded and announced:
“There’s nothing you can teach me. I can sell ice to Eskimos.”
At which point I’d stop the training.
“Great,” I’d say. “I’m an Eskimo.”
“I’m surrounded by ice. I live in ice. I sleep on ice. I’ve probably got a bloody pillow made of ice. I wake up every morning and all I can see for mile after mile after mile is ice.”
“So tell me. What exactly are you going to say that makes me buy more ice?”
Silence.
Because here’s the problem with the phrase.
It assumes the customer is stupid.
If I’m an Eskimo, there is nobody on this planet who knows more about ice than I do. It’s my world. I live it every day. I understand it better than you ever will.
So if you genuinely believe you can sell me more ice, what you’re really saying is that you think you’re cleverer than your customer.
And that’s not sales.
In fact, it’s the exact opposite of what great salespeople do.
Great salespeople don’t spend their time trying to convince people to buy things they don’t need.
They listen.
They ask questions.
They fact find.
They understand problems.
That’s why all those irritating sales clichés actually exist.
“Sales is about listening, not talking.”
“Two ears, one mouth.”
Annoying? Absolutely.
True? Also absolutely.
Because the last thing an Eskimo needs is more ice.
But do you know what might be incredibly valuable?
A lighter.
Now we’re having a completely different conversation.
Now I’m solving a problem.
Now I’m helping rather than persuading.
And that’s what sales should be.
Not convincing people to buy what you want to sell.
Understanding what they actually need to buy.
Because I’d never sell ice to an Eskimo.
But I’d probably charge a fortune for a lighter.
Unmuted: By Heidi Weir 
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