Symptoms
Melody and her boss just couldn't understand why she continued to struggle to close business. She was a very outgoing person who was extremely well liked by her customers. She went out of her way to be friendly to everyone and appeared to possess a good knowledge of her product and the selling process. Her failure to excel was confusing to everyone.
Diagnosis
A major weakness that many salespeople have is the need to be liked and complimented by the buyer. This need has the salesperson looking for love in all the wrong places. This causes them to be overly polite and avoid confrontation. This also means that they will be unlikely to ask tough qualifying and closing questions that get buyers off the decision fence. Like a desperate lover, salespeople will avoid hearing a no at all cost, and accept any signal of hope without question. These salespeople unconsciously get paid in stroking currency which has no financial value.
Prescription
Research suggests a salesperson with a stroke deficiency will be less effective than someone without. Overcoming this deficiency can be a difficult problem but it can be overcome. Here are several ideas to consider:
Be aware that selling is to advance business goals, not a social event. The purpose of sales interactions is to collect information about buyers by asking qualifying questions. Selling is no place for trying to meet your personal needs. (Get a pet or join a Meet-up group).
Remember that it doesn't matter what anyone thinks of you, says about you, or feels about you. The only two things that matter are that you have fun and get a qualified prospect to do business with you.
Get comfortable with hearing "No". "No" is an acceptable response when the prospect does not qualify to do business with you and you have done a good job asking questions to draw out the information you need. Learn to help people say "no" rather than put you off: “It could well be that we’re not a fit, and that’s perfectly okay.”
Learn to ask the tough qualifying questions to get information you really need. For example, it may not be comfortable to ask about money, details of the decision-making process or to test commitment, but you have to do it.
Treat clients with respect by making tough questions easier with cushions: " I need your help. That makes sense. I'm uncomfortable. Can I say something without getting you upset? I see your point. Can you help me because I don't understand?"
Critical Thinking
When do you realize you are being paid in strokes? During the meeting or after when you reflect on how well things went? What can you do to combat compliments during your meetings?
The Drill
Final Thought for the Morning:
"I can't give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time.” ~ Herbert Bayard Swope
"You have seen, but not observed." ~ Sherlock Holmes
Your Top 3 Goals & Tactics for the Week
LAST WEEK: Update us on how things went last week with your stated Goals and GD Tactics.
THIS WEEK: Please share your Top 3 Goals for this week and the GD tactics you plan to deploy.
