In Part 1 we discussed the Meet and Great, Maintaining eye contact, Commonalities, Open-ended questions, and Mirroring.
Let's pick up the discussion and learn some more insights for a better sales experience.
Reading Body Language
This takes time to develop and is not universal. Everyone is a little different and while folding of the arms to one person might mean a lack of trust the next person could just be the way they sit because it makes their shoulders feel better. If you study your potential client you should be able to see some cues throughout the conversation that will better set you up for the sale. What is their body language like when talking about commonalities? How does their body language change when you bring up your product/service? What does their body language tell you about them when they get interrupted?
To be able to read a person’s body language is to be able to get insight to better understand their mood, emotions, and internal thoughts. To be a master of reading body langue takes time, effort, and energy – it is a study of the human experience. It is difficult to get a master’s degree BUT for those who do will have an ability to guide situations and drive conversations in the direction they want FAR exceeding those who they are in competition with.
Two Ears and One Mouth
You have (Lord willing) two ears and one mouth and you must learn to use them in direct proportion to each other. In other words, you must learn how to listen twice as much as you talk. People absolutely love to talk about themselves. When you listen twice as much as you talk you will find greater joy in getting to know your potential client, you will find your questions are more refined and, if you do it correctly, you will find that 99% of people will tell you exactly what you need to do to get them to make an educated decision to purchase your products/service.
This topic is so basic, so easy to comprehend yet so difficult to obtain. See, you are a person too, and you love to tell your story, you love to be heard and you love when people listen. You must learn to tame your natural desires and let the other person be the storyteller. There will be a time, once the sale is made, that the consumer might let you tell your story; only then do you have permission to talk twice as much as you listen and you only will do this for a brief moment – turning the microphone back to the client is always the best answer.
There are those that this doesn’t apply to. There are those who want, nay, expect you to lead the conversations. When you find yourself with these people it is vital that you talk in small bursts – you must allow them to absorb what you’re saying. Speak consistently, in plain English, and in such a way that you can be understood. Use mild inflection and general gesturing – do not go overboard. Ask open-ended questions and try to pull them into your story. Get them to share some personal examples that would align with the premise of your story – build common ground!
ABC: Always Be Closing!
I am well aware this sounds so cliche and if you have seen the movie Glengarry Glen Ross you know why! While this may be a cliche, I can tell you that it is as important as mirroring. To always be closing is to ask open-ended questions that point to the close of the sale. To always be closing is to always be testing the waters with your client. It is important throughout the process to be gauging interest levels. This doesn’t mean that you should always be asking for the sale – if that is what you thought it meant you need to do a hard-gut check right now. To always be closing is to always be helping your client seeing their life with your product/service. Helping them see the vision is paramount and your ability to do this will determine your success.
If a client cannot see the vision why would they get on board with the pitch? If a person cannot see themselves on the beaches of Hawaii why would they buy a $2500 plane ticket? You must always be taking trial runs at your potential client – a lot of times, by doing this, you will be able to gauge their commitment level; knowing this will help guide your path. If the level is low you need to sell more value, build more rapport, and listen more. If their level is high you can move towards the “ask” at a higher rate of speed.
Be warned! If you do this wrong you will not only lose the potential client but you will embarrass yourself, your product/service, and your company. You will leave a bad taste in their mouth and lose credibility. To ABC wrong is to be seeking your own wants, needs, and desires. To ABC correctly is to help the person envision your product/service in their lives – something they cannot live without.
When value exceeds cost, cost is no longer an issue.
This, oh this, is so huge! If the cost of something is “x” and the client perceives the value to be lower you have three outcomes:
1. Lower the price to meet their expectations. It is a very rare day that you will find someone who will pay more for something than what they feel the value is.
2. Raise their expectations to meet your price. To accomplish this, you must know your product/service, understand why the client needs/wants it, and present information in an informative way that makes sense to them. You must always convert back to the value of your product/service
3. Lose the sale.
So you know: there are rare people who do not care about the value proposition – these types of people only care about price and unless you truly have a unique product/service they will not be moved. With these types of people, you must simply get to a price that is agreeable, close the sale and move on.
Perception is reality!
Yes, if a person perceives something to be true it is true in their mind. The only way to change perception is to help the person change it themselves, in their own mind. If someone perceives that anyone who drives a BMW is a snob it doesn’t matter how much safety data, company history, and value proposition you show them; they will see a snob when they see a BMW driver. To change this, they must meet and know someone who the like and trust before they know that person drives a BMW. Then, in their mind, they will have a contradiction of thought. They will struggle with the fact that their perception didn’t align with the reality the experienced. The subconscious mind will slowly erode away this perception.
When you’re with someone, a new potential client, who has an incorrect perception of you pr your product/service you must get away from sales pitches, one-liners, and any other “tactics” you may have been taught. The only thing you can do is help their mind begin to change their perception. Personal experiences, stories of people they trust, having them experience it themselves are all ways you can help the conscious begin to change the subconscious mind. Sometimes this can happen quickly and sometimes it takes time – it really depends on why the perception is there and how deeply rooted the perception is.
Most people are ambiguous towards most products/services and it is up to you to help define their perception of your product/service. All of the beginning steps are part of this – from hello to goodbye –their perception of you, your product/service and company are all being shaped and will guide future decisions they make (whether they realize it or not).
Final Thoughts
These are things that I have learned by fire. Through trial and error, by reading from the masters and being the best student that I could be. Not all people fit molds but most of them do. There is always the one-off, there is always the person who just doesn’t like you and there will always be the people of the world that you wish you never met. It is the nature of the sales career path. The key is to not let these people define your actions or your success.
As time goes on you will experience success and failures. The failures, if you’re not careful, will add up in your head. Do NOT make the fatal mistake of categorizing these people and then overlaying these judgments on people who, up-front, appear to be the same. Every buyer is a new opportunity and every person should be treated as an individual.
These guidelines are very easy to read and write about. They take time and effort to contemplate and envision and they are difficult to remember and execute. The key is to practice. You must take these principles and embrace them. You must practice them on your spouse, children, family, and friends. Practice them in truth, practice them when they do not know, and practice them with sincerity.
When you become a master, these things will be part of your DNA. In the meantime, always keep in mind what Teddy Roosevelt said:
“Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care”
Comments