Almost every book, manual, workshop or tape series teaching selling skills, will at one point suggest that you need to find something in com-mon with your prospective customer or client, in order to produce a trusting relationship. The thinking behind this suggestion is that if you find you have something in common with a decision-maker, somehow a bond or trust will be formed from a shared interest or mutual acquaint-ance. It is true that people buy from people like themselves, so on the surface this selling technique seems like a reasonable method to produce positive feelings in a prospect, customer or client. But, finding something in common with a decision-maker just takes too long in today’s fast paced selling environment and often is too difficult to uncover to build the trusting relationship that actually produces sales success.
Studies conducted by Dr. Al Mahribian at UCLA into effective communi-cation, strongly indicate that often the decision to purchase a product or service is made in the first two minutes of a sales transaction. Two min-utes is usually not enough time to discover something you might have in common with a prospective customer or client and then build on it to create a trusting relationship, so you need to find a more effective method to cultivate the trust needed to consistently produce sales.
To build trust quickly in a sales transaction, all you need to do is ask a series of “open-ended, personal questions.” One of the easiest ways to build rapport and trust is to get a decision-maker chatting about some-thing that she loves to talk about—herself! Generally, people are far more interested in themselves than in you, your organization or what you’re selling. However, psychologists tell us that when a prospect reveals something personal about himself, that’s when a strong and trusting re-lationship is being formed. Always remember, “People buy from people they trust!” To obtain a series of proven “trust building methods” just go to www.TheSellignEdge.com .
Questioning and really listening, not talking or telling, builds trust in a sales transaction. If you do more than 30 percent of the talking in a sales presentation or sales transaction, you are talking too much! Think about your last presentation. Who did most of the talking? This question, if an-swered honestly can give you insight into your level of closing skill. Always remember, closing a sale is a process not a technique.
Best wishes for continued sales success.
The "Finding Common Ground" Sales Technique, Is A Myth! - To learn more about this author, visit Virden Thornton's Website.
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Virden Thornton
(Visit Virden's Website)
VIRDEN J. THORNTON is the founder and
President of The $elling Edge®, Inc. a 23
year old firm specializing in sales,
customer relations, personal coaching and
management training and development.
Clients have included Sears Optical,
Eastman Kodak, IBM, Deloitte & Touché,
Bank One, Jefferson Pilot, and Wal-Mart to
name a few. Virden is the author of
Prospecting: The Key To Sales Success,
Organizing For Sales Success, 101 Sales
Management Myths, A Realtor's Success
Formula, and two best sellers 101 Sales
Myths and Building & Closing The Sale. He
also has a video/audio tape training
program entitled Close That Sale,
published by Thompson Learning. He has
also authored a Self-Directed Learning
series of sales, coaching & team
development, telemarketing and personal
productivity training guides. To obtain a
substantial discount on two of Virden's
new manuals, 101 Sales Myths and
Organizing For Sales Success, just go to
www.TheSellingEdge.com/book1.htm
Note: You can contact Virden at vi
rden@TheSellingEdge.com. You can also
see an expanded biography at: www.TheSellingEdge.com/bio.htm
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