I’m gonna be upfront with ya…
If you’re not reading the minds of your potential clients, you probably aren’t making many sales.
Before I even say “Hi†to a prospect, I know their personality inside and out. I know if they’re having a good day, or a bad day – I know if they’re friendly, or an asshole – I know if the prefer Coke or Pepsi – I even know who their favorite New Kid On The Block is… I know EVERYTHING! Since I’m aware of these key personality traits, I’m gonna be able to knock them on their butt with a sales pitch that will cater to their strongest desires.
You’ve gotta be intuitive, and a bit of a detective, to accurately figure out how to attack your sales prospect. When you first spot your prey, you must creep upon them with your mind – Study their body language, and facial expressions, to gauge how they’re feeling at the moment. Are they moving around in a sluggish manner, as if their skin is about to sag off their body? Or are they maintaining a strong and confident posture, as if they just received a shot of adrenalin? Once you have them figured out, pretend you’re a pill that’s about to manipulate a person’s mood. This should be easy for most of you guys, because all good salespeople can naturally adjust, and adapt to another person’s behavior.
So if you notice that your client might be having a bad day, you must enter your conversation on a somber note and gradually build up your prospect’s energy to where they are more relaxed and optimistic. Too much excitement towards a person, who is down and out, will only annoy them. If you can pull a person out of a bad mood, you’ll naturally build a special rapport with the individual because of your gentle, and optimistic, approach to them.
There’s reason to get excited if you notice your prospect seems to be having a playful day of shits and giggles; because you’ll be 51% of the way to a sale before you even get the chance to say “Hello!†However, you’re sales approach must still be strategically implemented. Don’t let their good spirit get you overly excited – because you’ll freak the prospect out, and kill their mood as you act like a gaudy car salesman. You must equally match your emotions, with their attitude, so you can maintain their happy demeanor throughout the entire sales conversation. Let them happily talk about themselves for a period of time, and then slowly move into what you have to offer as you maintain their optimistic attitude.
So what do you do when you’ve analyzed your prospect and they seem like they might be annoyed with the idea of talking to you? …You have to prove to them that you’re not the annoying jackass that they think you’re going to be. You do this by calming any pre-meeting nervousness you might have, and approaching them with a nonchalant, and friendly, attitude. When you display a cool and collected vibe, you’ll remove any of the client’s hesitance to speak with you; because you’ll have opened their mind to the fact that you’re simply a human being, and not just some wacko salesman. Your prospect will finally lose their hesitance to speak with you, begin to chill out, and absorb what you have to say.
You’re doomed in a sales meeting if you enter the conversation without a clue as to how your prospect is feeling. After all, the first product you must sell is yourself – And if you can’t initiate an enjoyable human relationship with your client, there’s no way they’ll invite you into a relationship with their pocketbook.
Wishing you continued success…
bizMAVERICK-
Brad Williamson
Add yourself as a Friend on the bizMAVERICKS MySpace profile!