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Fishing and Selling

Guest post by: Joe Ippolito

Article Overview: What do fishing and selling have in common? Anyone....

Fishing and Selling

Anyone who's gone fishing knows that the most common scenario for the amateur fisherman is a baited hook and line in the water waiting for a strike. When a fish bites, the amateur fisherman yanks the rod up, only to find the hook with no bait and no fish. The fish got your bait, and you got nothing!The same thing can happen to an overly eager or aggressive sales person who tries to close before the prospect is ready to buy.

Prospects buy for their reasons, not yours. So how do you know when they are ready to commit? First and foremost, avoid making the amateur mistake of misreading cues. Let's say that during the sellingprocess a prospect shows interest in a product or service by making positive statements. The amateur salesperson, sensing a sale is imminent, responds, "That's great, I knew you would like this, let me also tell you about these great features!" Deciding to strike, the salesperson starts reeling in the line as fast as they can.

The prospect knows you're fishing, but many times sense they're getting "hooked", and will try to escape before getting "caught." They might wonder if they are paying too much, or making too quick a decision. So they'll stall. They poise objections. It might sound like, "Let me get back to you next week", or "I need to think it over". Usually the only one thinking it over is the sales person!

Professional sales people must ensure that they fully understand and address the prospect's reasons for buying. You can test if a prospect is ready to buy by asking a question opposite as to what they expect. When your prospect says, "I really like what you have," your response could be, "That's interesting, what is it you like so much about it?" By pulling back, letting out some line, instead of yanking the hook up, you place the prospect in a position of telling you what they like. The progression of this questioning technique allows your prospects to discover the features of your product or service and to sell themselves, without you having to persuade them. This is a powerful psychological tool that will also prevent remorse and back outs.

When you learn to be patient and ask counterintuitive questions, you won't let your prospect get away!

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Article Tags: aggressive sales, cues, fish, fisherman, fishing, hook and line, hook up, mistake, objections, poise, professional sales, prospects, questioning technique, sales person, salesperson, yanks



Related Forum Posts
Re: Kevin's Case Study #10 - When to become an entrepreneur? - When the bug bite you. A lot of successful entrepreneurs started in their teens or at school. Selling sweets to fellow students or lemonade to firends in the neighbourhood.
Re: This is Marketing Warfare! - Hey GT, I guess this was from a while back, and it'll test your memory a bit but could you possibly elaborate on Unique Selling Proposition? Can you give us some examples of good USPs?
Blog pinging - Thanks Martin - yes, I do ping and it has been very effective. I'm currently on the first page of Google for Mastermind Group and on the second page for Selling to Small Business.
Business magazines - Fast Company is pretty good if you're into technology although it can be very on the edge. Entrepreneur has become one giant advertisement and I cancelled my subscription. Selling Power also has some useful content if you're looking at improving your sales skills / presentations.
Re: Newbi here - thanks for your responses guys.. I really appreciate it. Well, I have learned from realhomebasedsuccess dot com that there are home based business opportunities and ideas that could be our option such as: -Selling Goods or Providing Services Online -Making Money through Direct Marketing -Becoming an Affiliate Marketer -Getting Paid on a Click Thru but I was thinking which is the best one and most effective in terms of generating consistent Ongoing Profits. What do you think? do you have any insights?


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