Tweet

Executive Coaching Secrets for Socially Intelligent Sales - 9 Sales Tips for Tough Economic Times

Guest post by: Dr. Maynard Brusman

Article Overview: It's no new news that we are in a difficult business climate that requires making connections and building relationships more important than ever. We buy from people we know, like and trust. Right know and for the foreseeable future, we are experiencing a business climate where people and organizations are holding on to their wallets. There is a psychological and behavioral contracting effect due to uncertainty about the future.

Executive Coaching Secrets for Socially Intelligent Sales - 9 Sales Tips for Tough Economic Times

Executive Coaching Secrets for Socially Intelligent Sales

It's no new news that we are in a difficult business climate that requires making connections and building relationships more important than ever. We buy from people we know, like and trust.

Right know and for the foreseeable future, we are experiencing a business climate where people and organizations are holding on to their wallets. There is a psychological and behavioral contracting effect due to uncertainty about the future.

So marketing and making sales is more important than ever. However, the problem is that the old way of making sales by pressuring potential customers into buying may actually help you lose the sale and have unintended dire consequences.

I will give you a personal example of my attempt to buy a car where the salesperson lost a potential sale by following a prepared script. She focused on her interests and not mine.

I recently visited the local Honda Dealer with my wife and son. I had done quite a bit of research on the new CRV and wanted to test drive the vehicle and get my wife and son's thoughts about the car. I told the saleswoman that I had no intention to buy a car that day. I had just started looking.

After the salesperson made a copy of my license which already made me a little uneasy, we all got into the car and took a test drive. I asked the salesperson a number of questions about the car and was given answers I knew not to be true. After the test drive, I honestly just wanted to leave. The salesperson insisted that we go back into the dealership and proceeded to try and make a deal. I assertively reiterated that I was not interested in buying a car and we left. Over the next few weeks, my wife and I got several calls from the salesperson. It was such a negative experience that I'm still driving my old Toyota Camry!

We all need to market and create sales especially in this tough economy. However, there is a much better way by asking permission and establishing a relationship first.

9 Sales Tips for Tough Economic Times

Michael Port and Elizabeth Marshall in "The Contrarian Effect" offer nine contrarian principles to help you change your mindsets about sales.

1. Build relationships and make connections

2. Respect your customers and honor their wishes.

3. Target specific groups of individuals and your ideal clients.

4. Make relevant and timely offers.

5. Increase your "likeability factor".

6. Practice radical transparency.

7. Establish yourself as a trusted advisor.

8. Collaborate with strategic partners to leverage your efforts.

9. Think bigger about who you are and what you offer your clients.

In fact, Michael Port has started a "Think Big Revolution" to help you serve your customers and clients.

Suzi Pomerantz in "Seal the Deal!" talks about reframing your belief system so that sales and business development are more about partnership and service than interrupting and bothering customers to buy your stuff. Sales is more about creating mindsets about authenticity, meaning and values, and creating relationships than merely making short-term numbers for personal gain.

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership and sales assessments such as the BarOn EQi, CPI 260 and Sales Max can help you avert conventional sales wisdom and do the opposite. It's more of a coach approach to help sales entrepreneurs ask permission and focus intently on the needs of the customer. You can become a more emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent at making sales, by first listening and paying attention before you and your buyer collaborate to seal the deal.

Related Articles
  Bay Area Executive Coaching - Make Good Use of a Coach
  Executive Presence and Leadership Development
  Searching for Executive Presence
  7 Tips for Reinventing Your Career – Connect on Social Media
  Executive Wisdom for Smart Decision-Making - Wisdom in Action
  Positivity at Work
  How to Harness the Power of Culture
  How Corporate Culture Drives Engagement and Accountability
  When to Change Your Corporate Culture
  Developing Executive Presence - What Really Matters
  Employee Engagement - Does Your Organization Employ Zombies?
  How to Be More Positive at Work
  Ten Tips to Build a Culture of Trust
  How People Experience Work Shapes Your Organization’s Culture
  Emotions’ Role in Business - The Business Case for Positivity
  Home Business Expert: Direct Sales Is An Economic & Recession Proof Business
  How to Keep Customers for Life
  Leadership Resilience - The Art of Bouncing Back
  Emotional Intelligence and Performance
  Executive Wisdom - Developing Your Leadership Wisdom

Article Tags: building relationships, business climate, economic times, executive coaching, sales, uncertainty



Related Forum Posts
Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional - Hi Evan, I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing
Re: Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional - [quote="ltrahan":31w9r2iz]Hi Evan, I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing[/quote:31w9r2iz] I second the request...
New Small Business Topic - Hello everyone, I'm on the lookout for new topics to add to my site. We just launched a Franchising section and are planning Human Resources section. Do you have any thoughts for a new section? Here's a list of what we currently have: Angel Investors Branding Bank Loans Business Coaching Business Plan Franchises (New) Insurance Legal Marketing Public Relations Sales Small Biz Loans Venture Capital
Hello From Marietta GA! - Hello All! My name is Tim Naylor and I am in Direct Sales! I am glad I have found EC's sites and I hope to learn and share a lot!
$1000 and a stupid idea - [quote="OmnivoreInk":8mkh1lv7]Bill and Heidi Dittmar: Executive Lifestyle founders of a magazine called Executive Lifestyle. Started in 1991. Revenue has grown more than 200% since 2004. 4 full time, 3 part time employees "We started off with $1,000 and a stupid idea." It began as This Month, a guide for tourists, and morphed into Executive Lifestyle.[/quote:8mkh1lv7] Hi Barbara, I find this story about Bill and Heidi Dittmar's success to be especially interesting! Would you happen to know what the catalyst or tipping point was for their change from a guide for tourists to an Executive Lifestyle magazine? Thanks


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Common Sense Stress Management

Web Design in 30 Minutes - Can this be Right?

Life, Conflict and Work

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.