Most people dislike being sold to. Gen Y like salesmen even less than baby-boomers. We’ve been interrupted by ads, annoyed by door-to-door and saturated by cold callers. Our mindset is on auto-response-NO

There is one vacancy that forty applicants apply for. Thirty nine have picture-perfect CV’s. One is hand delivered to the CEO by his best friend along with a glowing letter of recommendation on what the applicant did for the friend’s not-for-profit. Who gets the first interview?

There are five headhunters applying to do an exec search at a large wireless firm. Four use powerpoint as their testimonial. One invited the CEO on a podcast that resulted in a ton of new publicity and new business. Who gets the assignment?

The anti-sale is a done deal before the competition lace up their boots. The anti-sellers give first because they enjoy giving not because they expect to get. The anti-sellers are the best salesman not because they cold call the best, or harass, or charm, or negotiate or close. They are the best because they figured out what was important to their prospects and gave it to them before the sales process even began.