The Salesperson as Holistic Healer

Alfred Turrisi, sales training guru, says it’s all about knowing and serving.

By Anthony Birritteri, Editor-in-Chief On Apr 30, 2018

Can today’s salesperson be a holistic healer to a company’s problems? For sales training expert Alfred Turrisi, founder of Long Valley-based Turrisi & Associates, the answer is a definite, “Yes.”

As a student of physics, metaphysics and philosophy, and backed by years of successful sales experience, Turrisi has created a training program, titled “How to be a Black Belt at Life & Career,” which concentrates on the message of contributing to the greater good.

Noticing that many things in nature take on a circular form or path – the moon, the planets, the sun, the solar system, down to the human egg, blood cells and water molecules – Turrisi concluded that humans live in a circular culture and, furthermore, the nature of this circular culture is to “give back, not take away.”

He studied the sales process and saw that it was linear. Salespeople receive a quote request; they submit it; they follow up … and that’s the process. Historically, this quoting process has a low rate of return, Turrisi argues, because, in this scenario, buyers make their decisions based on price. The salesperson is just a commodity rather than a value-added provider.

To combat this, Turrisi sees the selling process as a giving process filled with high values and standards in which the salesperson uses everything he or she comes in contact with (during an in-person sales visit, for example), to get more in touch with the prospect and build relationships. “It’s more about being interested in someone … learning about where the individual is, where the company is, what they are trying to get at, what is getting in their way and you making a contribution rather than trying to sell something,” he explains. 

“In my life and in my business, I sit and listen. I’m absorbing everything. I don’t interrupt. I just wait until I have the opportunity to see someone’s world,” he continues. “Then you can make suggestions and recommendations that people feel comfortable with. They will embrace you because you understand their issues. It leads to a lot of collaboration and working together.”

He adds that everything the salesperson does must come from the heart. “If you are asking questions from the heart, the sincerity is going to come across. If you are asking questions to manipulate and position yourself, that too is very visible,” Turrisi explains.

Asked if today’s data analytics capabilities can replace the conventional in-person relationship from a sales perspective, Turrisi responds, “Technology erodes our ability to have a true relationship. That is critical. I use technology, but I will never send a proposal to someone I have never met. I will always go to a prospective client’s location. I want to see how they live. It’s part of the qualification process.”

Turrisi conducts sales training classes for businesses small and large. One can sample his training techniques and discussions by accessing a series of podcasts on his website: www.turrisiassociates.com.

 

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