Power Tips

Everybody likes to buy, because buying is fun. If you don’t believe this, try to find a parking space at a shopping mall, or a seat at an auction, this weekend. However, while buying is fun and exciting, nobody likes to be sold. The truth is: the best salespeople don’t “sell” their customers; they help them buy.

• Get emotional. When presenting your product or service, do not attempt to appeal strictly to the buyer’s rational mind with a list of perfectly logical reasons to buy. Instead, fire their imaginations, and appeal to their emotions. Stress the benefits and rewards of owning your product or using your services. If possible, have them hold your product in their hands. Use colorful verbal illustrations that stress benefits. Sprinkle in some brief case histories. Be likeable. Have some fun. Above all, let the customer do most of the talking. Take the pressure to buy out of the experience, and the successful close will come naturally.

• What buyers want. In most business-to-business sales situations, the central question on buyers’ minds is, “What’s in it for me?” Take note: the question is, “What’s in it for me?” not, “What’s in it for my company?” Let prospects know how your product or service will help them to:

Make their jobs easier Look good to management
Gain respect and prestige Advance their careers
Be appreciated Save time
Have some fun and excitement Stay ahead of the competition
Minimize their personal risk

Remember, the central question you must answer for the prospect is, “What’s in it for me?”

• Respect your buyer’s intelligence. Speak to your potential customer as if you were talking with an intelligent, yet uninformed friend. Do not insult your prospect’s intelligence with inane leading questions such as, “We all want to save time and money, right?” Instead, simply state, “Our product will save you both time and money,” and immediately follow this statement with a brief example or two. Allow the prospect to respond to your time and money-savings premise. A high-pressure “What’s there to think about?” approach doesn’t work in today’s business environment. Your buyers are smart, and deserve your respect.

• What’s in a name? There is no sweeter music than the sound of one’s own name. Try to use your prospect’s name a couple of times during your sales presentation. However, don’t overdo it, or you’ll sound insincere and patronizing. If your buyer’s name is difficult to pronounce, get the correct pronunciation from the receptionist or secretary. Write it out phonetically, and say it aloud a few times before your meeting.

• The nose knows! Do not overwhelm your client’s olfactory sense. It is a major turnoff for buyers when a salesperson reeks of perfume, cologne, or aftershave. Prospects will often cut the meeting short just to escape the smell. Rule of thumb: use only enough fragrance that if a loved one were nuzzling your neck, the scent could barely be detected.

• Be on time, but don’t come early. While this seems painfully obvious, you might be surprised to learn how many sales folk show up late, with some lame excuse. Arriving too early for a meeting is nearly as bad. Never arrive more than ten minutes before your scheduled appointment. Being punctual shows respect and good business form, and will get your meeting off to a good start.

• Create powerful imagery. Instead of saying to a business owner, “Your employees will really appreciate this program,” consider saying with a smile, “Your employees will stand up and applaud you for giving them this program.” Don’t worry; the buyer will allow this bit of poetic license. Even though he knows his employees won’t really stand up and applaud, the mental image of them doing so is powerful.

• Beware the time bandits. Everyone needs a break from the action. However, 20 minutes a day wasted on office small talk, surfing the Net, or personal phone calls adds up to two full weeks a year in lost production. How many sales could you make in two weeks? Eliminate these time bandits, and watch your productivity climb.

• Don’t interrogate buyers. A recent article in a leading sales publication advised “intense questioning” of prospects to determine their needs. The writer included a laundry list of questions that were both intrusive and transparent. Sophisticated buyers perceive too many probing questions, especially in the first stages of a meeting, as a pitch-tailoring sales tactic—which, of course, is exactly what it is. If you get prospects talking and follow the 80/20 Rule—you listen 80% of the time and talk only 20% of the time—many of your questions will be answered before you even ask them. Sure, you still have to ask questions and seek clarification. But your fact-finding process should flow naturally in response to buyers’ comments and conversational pauses. Do not put them on the hot seat.

• Breaking the ice. Some telephone cold-call gurus will tell you to offer a pleasantry or two after introducing yourself. They are wrong. Avoid the opening, “How are you?” When spoken over the phone to a stranger, the phrase reeks of insincerity. You might as well scream, “I am a salesperson!” Instead, employ a more businesslike opening, such as, “The reason I’m calling you this morning is to learn about your company’s personnel needs, and to see if we can be of help.” In other words, after introducing yourself, state the reason for your call. Prospects will appreciate your honesty and respect for their time and intelligence. Only ask, “How are you?” after you’ve progressed beyond the initial contact, and a relationship has been established.

• Don’t answer a question with a question. Again, contrary to conventional sales training wisdom, never answer a question with a question. This tactic is usually perceived by the prospect as evasive. For example, if your buyer asks, “When can you ship?” do not respond, “When do you need it?” This strategy diminishes your credibility. Simply tell him your average shipping time, and ask if that works for him. If not, go to bat for him, and if possible, get it for him when he wants it.

• Look sharp. The old cliché about dressing for success especially holds true in sales. Your clothes and personal grooming speak volumes about you to buyers, co-workers, and management. If you are looking good, you are undoubtedly feeling good, and you will close more sales. Take a critical look at your appearance, keeping in mind that shoes are one of the first things noticed. Your working wardrobe should be made up entirely of the following materials: cotton, wool, silk, linen and leather. That’s it. For men, facial hair is generally a negative. (Name the last politician elected to the presidency who had a moustache or beard.) There are several good books on sharp dressing and good grooming. John T. Molloy’s New Dress for Success is an update of the classic.

• Never thank anyone for taking your call. This seemingly polite gesture immediately puts you in a subordinate role—and subordinates are easily dismissed. For the same reason, when you finally make contact with a difficult-to-reach prospect, never open with, “You’re a hard person to get hold of!”

• Mood follows form. When you feel in winning form, you smile, stand up straight, and walk with confidence. On some gloomy, depressing day, try this: smile, stretch, and strut. You will feel your mood begin to lighten as your physical actions mimic those of a winner. The same thing goes for your phone personality. If you sit up straight and smile, you will begin to feel self-confident and purposeful. Your voice will reflect those qualities, and you will enjoy more successful contacts with prospects and clients.

• Let the buyer lead. While you always want to maintain subtle control of your conversations with prospective buyers or clients, modify your pace and style to match theirs—sort of like dancing. If your customer likes to chat, by all means indulge in a little small talk. Conversely, do not ask Mr. Down-To-Business about his weekend plans. If a client has a breezy, big-picture personality, do not bog him down with details. This personality type loves to hear, “I’ll take care of everything for you.” However, if a prospect has questions about every detail, take the time to carefully review the nuts and bolts with him. Reading your buyer’s personality and conversational style will pay big dividends in increased sales.

• Buyers are like cats (and you’re probably a dog!) Just like our feline friends, buyers can be a difficult lot: suspicious, wary, finicky, independent, aloof. If you chase after one, it always runs. If you attempt to coax it, it invariably ignores you. However, if you sit quietly, letting the cat take its time and make up its own mind, before you know it, it’s purring on your lap.


Power Tips - To learn more about this author, visit Michael Johnson's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends

E-Mail | Print | More

Related Articles
Bookkeeping Tips on Tips
	Are you a hairdresser, waiter or waitress? Do you work at a barber shop, golf course, hotel, casino or drive a taxicab? Did you know that the money you receive from those services is taxable income? Here are som...
“The Awesome Power of TO-DO Lists, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach”
	The power of TO-DO lists can be truly awesome when used properly. Personally, I have witnessed and realized the awesome power for more than 35 years in my professional career. Are you using TO-DO lists in your pro...
Power Marketing Advice to Grow Your Business
	A strategic thinking question that today’s business owners and senior managers need to ask themselves is “How effectively do I market myself and our service, product and/or company?” And frankly, no matter what your...
The 13 Most Powerful Words in Marketing
	Powerful words, combined with powerful, well written, benefit-packed copy is the best formula for guaranteeing powerful results from your marketing campaign.
Does Power Corrupt
	Does power corrupt or is it the lack of accountability.

---

Related Forum Posts
	Business Tips
	Women Entrepreneur Tips
	Re: SEO Recommendation Needed
	Try Article Marketing...
	I must have the wrong numbers
	Happy
	Good health
	Success Strategies

---

Related Businesses - Evan Elite Authors

George Ludwig George 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

Kim Castle With nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website

Dave Kurlan Dave 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

The Evan Elite Authors program is currently in beta phase. For details please contact us.