Sales Skills For Service Professionals Part 3
Sales Skills For Service Professionals Part 3
(1) The ability to ask provocative questions
(2) The ability to listen with total focus on the client
(3) The ability to relate moving stories and metaphors
Let's discuss the third skill: The ability to relate moving stories and metaphors.
Testimonials about your service help you get clients because human beings are hard-wired to believe stories. Even before humans developed language, they could tell stories with cave paintings. As language developed, one of its first uses was to sit around the campfire and tell stories of great exploits.
Even when there are no clients around to give testimonials, however--or campfires, for that matter--stories of your exploits can assist you to turn an uncertain prospect into a ready client.
My client Michael, an attorney, is a master at "sales" stories:
"Joe, your situation is very similar to a client I'm helping at the moment. He had a little more money invested in his piece of real estate, but what the seller did in his case was almost identical to what happened to you. Just like you, he struggled with whether he should spend the money on starting litigation or not, but then he decided he couldn't let them get away with it and asked me to go ahead with it."
It's a rare instance when a prospective client doesn't yield in the face of stories like these.
Michael also uses metaphors. I remember our discussion about a client with a small case, who asked Michael whether or not she could handle it herself, without a lawyer.
"Sure you can," Michael told her, "But then you'd be like a leaf on a rushing stream. With no rudder and no one to steer, you'd be rushing toward whatever result the system intends for you."
The woman took out her checkbook and wrote a retainer check.
One of my favorite masters of metaphor was Ben Feldman, one of the greatest insurance salesmen in modern history. Ben could look prospective insurance purchasers in the eyes and say things like, "with the stroke of a pen, you create an estate," and the prospects would pick up their pens to sign the application Ben brought with him.
Another client, Larry, is a financial advisor. To explain a Roth IRA, where you invest with after-tax dollars into an account that can grow income tax-free, if held long enough, Larry uses a farming metaphor:
"If you were a farmer and you had to pay taxes," he asks, "would you rather pay taxes on the seed, or on the crop that you harvest?"
"The seed, of course," is the prospect's reply.
"Why is that?" Larry asks.
"Well, the tax on a huge crop is probably a lot more than the tax on the seed would be," is the response.
"That's why I want you to make this investment," Larry tells his prospect. "You'll have already paid taxes on the seed-and you'll be able to harvest the crop tax- free."
In case you missed it, Larry manages to put all three skills together in his presentation. He asks provocative questions, listens carefully to the answer, and uses a metaphor that allows his prospect to make the right choice.
These three skills will help you get more clients, get better clients and keep the clients you have.
Sales Skills For Service Professionals Part 3 - To learn more about this author, visit Sandy Schussel's Website.
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In Part I of this series, we introduced three skills that are essential for selling professional services:
(1) The ability to ask provocative questions
(2) The ability to listen with total focus on the client
(3) The ability to relate moving stories and metaphors
Let's discuss the third skill: The ability to relate moving stories and metaphors.
Testimonials about your service help you get clients because human beings are hard-wired to believe stories. Even before humans developed language, they could tell stories with cave paintings. As language developed, one of its first uses was to sit around the campfire and tell stories of great exploits.
Even when there are no clients around to give testimonials, however--or campfires, for that matter--stories of your exploits can assist you to turn an uncertain prospect into a ready client.
My client Michael, an attorney, is a master at "sales" stories:
"Joe, your situation is very similar to a client I'm helping at the moment. He had a little more money invested in his piece of real estate, but what the seller did in his case was almost identical to what happened to you. Just like you, he struggled with whether he should spend the money on starting litigation or not, but then he decided he couldn't let them get away with it and asked me to go ahead with it."
It's a rare instance when a prospective client doesn't yield in the face of stories like these.
Michael also uses metaphors. I remember our discussion about a client with a small case, who asked Michael whether or not she could handle it herself, without a lawyer.
"Sure you can," Michael told her, "But then you'd be like a leaf on a rushing stream. With no rudder and no one to steer, you'd be rushing toward whatever result the system intends for you."
The woman took out her checkbook and wrote a retainer check.
One of my favorite masters of metaphor was Ben Feldman, one of the greatest insurance salesmen in modern history. Ben could look prospective insurance purchasers in the eyes and say things like, "with the stroke of a pen, you create an estate," and the prospects would pick up their pens to sign the application Ben brought with him.
Another client, Larry, is a financial advisor. To explain a Roth IRA, where you invest with after-tax dollars into an account that can grow income tax-free, if held long enough, Larry uses a farming metaphor:
"If you were a farmer and you had to pay taxes," he asks, "would you rather pay taxes on the seed, or on the crop that you harvest?"
"The seed, of course," is the prospect's reply.
"Why is that?" Larry asks.
"Well, the tax on a huge crop is probably a lot more than the tax on the seed would be," is the response.
"That's why I want you to make this investment," Larry tells his prospect. "You'll have already paid taxes on the seed-and you'll be able to harvest the crop tax- free."
In case you missed it, Larry manages to put all three skills together in his presentation. He asks provocative questions, listens carefully to the answer, and uses a metaphor that allows his prospect to make the right choice.
These three skills will help you get more clients, get better clients and keep the clients you have.
Sales Skills For Service Professionals Part 3 - To learn more about this author, visit Sandy Schussel's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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