--- title: Solving The Seller's Paradox description: Stop Selling! If you’re selling you’re doing something wrong. image: https://www.liftenablement.com/hs-fs/file-363416045-jpg/blog-files/growth-steps-7-300x134.jpg --- ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner # Solving The Seller's Paradox [ Doug Davidoff ](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/author/doug-davidoff) Jan 21, 2013 3:06:00 AM ![Growth-steps-7](https://www.liftenablement.com/hs-fs/file-363416045-jpg/blog-files/growth-steps-7-300x134.jpg?width=300&height=134&name=growth-steps-7-300x134.jpg)As I shared in my post last Monday:  [Stop Selling!  If you’re selling you’re doing something wrong](https://blog.imaginellc.com/the-sellers-paradox). Whenever I share this insight, it’s always greeted with agreement…and frustration.  People shrug their shoulders and ask, “I get that I shouldn’t do this, but what **should** I do?” Solving The Seller’s Paradox requires that you fully and completely [leave the world of the peddler](https://blog.imaginellc.com/are-you-a-pest-peddler-or-demand-creator).  You must let go of your products and services, your features and benefits and engage – truly engage – with your prospects/customers.  You must embrace a diagnostic approach. The basis of this approach is rooted with what I call *The Three Sale Mindset™*.  A successful sale is really the culmination of three distinct “sales.”  They are: The problem with traditional sales (and with about 95% of salespeople) is that they’re completely programmed and focused on making sale three, and as a result skip steps, assume and commoditize. Diagnosis is all about focusing on the first sale, and realizing that you don’t really have a prospect until you have clearly and mutually agreed on what the problem is, the impact of the problem as well as its priority. There are three distinct decisions that must be reached in *The First Sale™*: It is critical to understand that *The First Sale* has not been made until ***all three*** points have been met. It is not at all unusual (actually, it’s the norm) that salespeople move forward when only the first and third points are being communicated. When a prospect/customer reaches out to you claiming to acknowledge a problem and desiring a solution, if you assume that they either a) understand what their problem really is, or b) are truly committed to solving the problem once they learn everything that is involved you are moving into false positive territory – and you’re peddling! When you slow it down and spend the necessary time to ensure that all three points are covered, you’ll find you move beyond competition and begin to get treated like the trusted resource your should be.  Focus on *The First Sale*, and you’ll see the next two move through faster than ever. [B2B Sales Strategy](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/topic/b2b-sales-strategy), [Demand Generation](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/topic/demand-generation), [Sales](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/topic/sales) ## Read On [![Growth-steps-7](https://www.liftenablement.com/hs-fs/file-363416045-jpg/blog-files/growth-steps-7-300x134.jpg?width=352&name=growth-steps-7-300x134.jpg) ](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/the-sellers-paradox) ### [The Seller's Paradox](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/the-sellers-paradox) When I conduct sales training for executives and sales teams, I typically finish with the... [![](https://www.liftenablement.com/hs-fs/file-363404760-jpg/blog-files/41.jpg?width=352&name=41.jpg) ](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/building-high-performance-sales-teams) ### [Building High Performance Sales Teams](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/building-high-performance-sales-teams) For most of the last 20 years, businesses and salespeople have had a tremendous tailwind supporting... [![](https://www.liftenablement.com/hs-fs/hubfs/POV-Selling.jpg?width=352&name=POV-Selling.jpg) ](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/point-of-view-selling-vs-relationship-selling) ### [Point of View Selling vs Relationship Selling: Which Is Right For You?](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/point-of-view-selling-vs-relationship-selling) Point-of-view (POV) selling has been around for a while now, but there are still those who resist,...