“I thought the Bob thing was fake.”
Those words stopped me cold on a recent call with one of my clients. Rachel was telling me about her newest employee—someone who had been going through the motions with my SalesRX training but wasn’t buying in. She thought the techniques were staged and not authentic to how she wanted to interact with customers.
Then something shifted.
A furniture sales rep came to Rachel’s store to train the team on a product line. She wasn’t there to teach selling. But in the course of describing her products, she naturally demonstrated every principle I teach. She asked for the sale. She handled objections. She led with premium products.
Afterwards, Rachel’s skeptical employee came up and admitted, “Listening to her made me realize it’s not Bob and SalesRX-it’s the way you should really be talking to people.”
That’s the third-party effect at work.
Why Skeptics Resist Training
Every retailer has at least one associate like Rachel’s. You invest in training, show proven techniques, and model what works. But they push back:
- “Sales is vulture-y.”
- “I already know how to talk to people.”
- “This feels fake.”
They’re not being difficult. They’re missing the point. Selling is a skill, like learning a sport or a language. What feels fake early often becomes natural with practice.
Selling in retail isn’t the same as chatting with friends. It’s a specialized language for a unique moment. Every customer walks in as a stranger, unsure whether they can trust you. They know you’re trying to sell them something.
Friendliness creates warmth, but it doesn’t guide customers toward decisions. Customers don’t come in looking for friends; they come in looking for help making a purchase.
Associates think they can “wing it,” - they’re wrong. Being friendly isn’t enough. Resistance comes from discomfort with change, not flaws in the method.
Why Third-Party Validation Works
Rachel’s rep wasn’t trying to prove anything. She was just selling her line with confidence. But in doing so, she showed my skeptic what good selling looks like in real life.
And it’s not just retail. This happens when I speak to large audiences. After a keynote, a meeting planner will often tell me, “Why is it that I can say the same thing to my people for months and they act like it’s brand new when you say it once on stage?” My answer is always the same: “Because you warmed them up. I just said it in a different way that, for whatever reason, landed.”
Why do employees believe an outsider over their manager?
That’s the third-party effect. The same principles sound fresh and more credible when they come from someone new, even if leadership has been saying it for months.
Rachel's rep’s authenticity cut through every excuse. It wasn’t me. It wasn’t management. It was a professional showing what works.
The “Not Here” Excuse
I hear it constantly: “Our customers are different. Our products are different. What works in other stores won’t work here.”
Every company thinks their market is unique, but selling fundamentals apply everywhere. Whether it’s furniture, jewelry, or restaurants, customers all need guidance to make confident buying decisions.
Building Your Third-Party Arsenal
When associates see a professional ask for the sale with authenticity and the customer appreciates it, they realize selling isn’t pushy, it’s actually helpful.
Smart retailers don’t rely only on internal training. They create opportunities for outside voices to reinforce the same principles. Here are four ways:
-
Invite vendors who sell well
Some reps are naturals. When they’re in your store, don’t limit them to product features. Ask them how they approach customers, handle objections, or close sales. Let your team see selling in action. -
Share stories from other stores
When you hear about great service elsewhere, bring that story back. It proves good selling isn’t limited to your industry or location. -
Use customer testimonials
Customers often describe excellent sales experiences in feedback. Share those comments. A line like “She guided me and challenged some of my preconceptions to land on the perfect outfit,” is worth more than a lecture. -
Promote peer-to-peer learning
Your top associates are proof that sales techniques work. When they share wins, skeptics listen in a way they never will with management.
The Breakthrough Moment
For Rachel's employee, the lightbulb came when she realized the techniques weren't artificial—they were authentic. The rep wasn't pushy. She was helpful, moving the customer forward.
Making It Stick
Third-party validation opens the door, but you still need to walk your employees through it. Take one associate on a field trip to check out a competitor. When they see outside examples of good selling, debrief with them. Ask what they noticed. Help them connect the dots.
Here's why this matters: What did you have for dinner last night? You remember instantly. What about two nights ago? You struggle. Last Tuesday? You laugh and give up.
The brain decided that dinner information wasn't important enough to retain. This is exactly what happens with one-and-done sales training. Without repetition, without seeing principles work in different contexts, even simple concepts get lost.
That's why you need constant exposure to examples of excellence - not just in your store, not just in your industry, but anywhere great selling happens. Because selling is universal. What works in a furniture store works in a jewelry shop. The principles of guiding, asking, and closing don't change.
Skeptics don't need different techniques. They need to see the same techniques working in different contexts. Once they do, resistance fades. Not because you convinced them. But because reality did.
Final Word
I've been in retail long enough to know training only sticks when associates see it in action. When employees see principles work outside the training room, they stop resisting. They start practicing. And that's when sales start to grow.
One system. Every store. Better results.
