My Style: The Recommendation of Self-Deprecation

Sales is the field where I have spent the longest time in my business career.

The first half of my career was
working as a store manager in Kyoto, selling health foods and goods to individual consumers who visited the shop.

The second half was selling metal processed products in China. This was B2B sales.

(Currently, I work alone, supporting small and medium-sized manufacturers with profit improvement, new order acquisition, and sales staff training.)

I feel that I have achieved good results in both, based on my own self-assessment.

My character as a salesperson is...


"The self-deprecating character who gets teased!"

When I was selling health foods and goods in the first half of my career,

my main customers were women in their 40s and 50s.
I was in my 20s, but I was a solo store manager.

When a customer, Ms. A, would ask,
"What kind of effect does this food have?"
I would answer,
"It seems to improve blood flow a little. I wonder what benefits that has?"
Then, Ms. A would say,
"Royal-san, you're the manager, you have to study! If your blood flow improves, it should be good for things like poor circulation or blood pressure."
I would put my hands together and bow,
"Ms. A, thank you! My boss is always scolding me because I can't seem to remember the knowledge no matter how long I try. Please don't tell on me when he comes next time."
Then, Ms. E, a customer who was listening next to us, would say,
"I suffer from poor circulation, so I'll give it a try."
I would say,
"Ms. E, thank you. Ms. A, thank you for the advice too! Please keep teaching me things!"
Both Ms. A and Ms. E would go home with big smiles on their faces.
I...
Right after joining the company,

...
I studied intensely.
Store operations
Sales talk
Product knowledge
And,
I earned a health management certification.


But I was still a young person in my 20s.
Many of the customers were like mothers to me.
"I won't act like a teacher; I'll stick to being the self-deprecating one who gets teased!"


When you continue to be self-deprecating,
you get the feeling that
"I am not moving the customers,"
but rather
"I am being supported by the customers."
That is why, while being grateful,

I don't force sales,
and I can think about only recommending things I truly believe are good.
Now, the second half: selling metal processed products.

My mission is to
win new product orders from clients.
Therefore,
I must give a solid presentation to the customer.
So, where did the self-deprecation go?
I became a "character who is bad at detailed routine tasks."
For example, I would win a new order.
This is my achievement.

But the customer would also ask me about

shipping, payments, and various documents for starting the transaction.
Here, I would say,

"I'm sorry... Actually... I'm not good at this kind of work. I often get scolded for lack of confirmation... They tell me they can't trust me with it anymore... So, as a countermeasure, the company has created a dedicated team. This person in charge won't make mistakes, so let me introduce them. But please continue to leave the new part development to me!"
Is it really okay to do that?

It is.

I had earned trust in new development.

That is why I use self-deprecation to focus on my area of expertise.

It was much easier than trying to be a perfect salesperson.

The interesting thing about a self-deprecating character is that
just by doing a slightly good job in an area where you usually say "I'm not good at this..."
"Oh, Royal-san, you were actually a capable person!"
it is easy to exceed expectations in a good way.

Once you get used to it,
"A salesperson with no front teeth whose bridge keeps falling out"
"A salesperson who easily begs, 'If I don't get this information, I'm told not to come back to the company...'"
You get labeled with the exact opposite of what the customer thinks of as a "competent salesperson"...
But this kind of character also has the aspect of being easy to talk to,
and when consulted, I do professional work only on the new development part, getting my ability recognized.
It was a sales life of mastering the path of "being teased and self-deprecating"...
I currently train sales staff for clients.


There are sales staff who have only been with the company for a few years, have little experience,



and are worried, saying "I can't do sales well."

What I tell them at such times is,

"It's not just the salesperson who can do everything that succeeds."

It's better to first aim to be a salesperson who leaves an impression on the customer.


The newer the person, the more they tend to think, "I must not make a bad impression."
Then,
I shouldn't say this,

Is that rude?
and their own personality disappears.

What is important is
to proceed with a character that is natural to you and leverages your strengths.

On top of that,
even if it's just one thing—knowledge, explanation skills, or response speed—
build a weapon that allows you to say, "Please leave this part to me."

The sales staff member I am teaching, T-san,

was aiming to be a salesperson who could seriously create materials and give solid presentations.
But he didn't get results.

However, he remembered that he was called the "Banquet Manager" during his university tennis club days, and he made a 180-degree turn.

He started to stand out at dinners with customers,
and little by little, he began to get orders.
Instead of forcing yourself to fit the ideal image of a salesperson,
push your own character forward and revise it through experience and failure.

I feel that is more sustainable without strain,
and as a result, you become a stronger salesperson.

By the way, my "self-deprecating character who gets teased"

is also fully demonstrated at home.
My wife says,
"You're a masochist, but I'm not a sadist!"
while I am teased every day by my tsundere wife
and my daughter, who has perfectly copied her mother.

Thanks to that, I am able to polish my sales techniques again today...