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Fast Tip Friday: The Court of Sales

Jun 24, 2022 6:45:00 AM

 

Hey, welcome everybody, it's time for another fast tip on Friday.

Hey, this one's kind of a little bit off the beaten track cause I'm going to make a cultural reference to an old television show that was a classic when I was growing up. But you don't want to know how many years ago that was. And frankly, I'll tell you, it was in black and white, it's that old. So, back when I was a kid, there was a television show called Dragnet on TV. And Dragnet was really one of the original cops type shows that was on the airwaves back when there were only three channels. So, it's that long ago. And one of the core things that happened in every Dragnet episode is they would bust the perp.

So they would find a criminal or a suspect who may have committed the crime. And they would do the right thing, when they accosted this person and tried to take them into custody. They would read the perpetrator or the suspect their Miranda rights. And the Miranda rights, basically, on Dragnet got to the point where Sergeant Joe Friday would say to the potential criminal, before you start talking, I've got to let you know, everything you say, can and will be used against you in a court of law.

Well, I don't know why, but over the years is in my consulting business, I find myself wanting to say to a lot of salespeople, be careful before you start talking. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of sales. So some of the things that we think are high value pieces of information that a prospect or potential client could want, can actually turn around and bite you in the butt. When you tell people how many years the company has been in business, when you tell people how many distribution centers you have, when you tell people how long you've been in the business, or where you came from, and why you're at this company now, or you tell them what the hours are that your stores are open. I know, it all sounds like good and valuable information. But what we don't know is how that information is perceived by the people we're sharing with. And one of the things that has come kind of been a recent phenomenon. A lot of companies used to sell on the fact that they were family businesses. Look, I love family businesses, Growth Dynamics, at its most basic is a family business. But a lot of people today, don't think family businesses are as up to date or as technologically advanced, or they don't have the capability to work with larger companies, or they're stuck in their old ways, and they won't be able to help them do the things that they want. So I know we like to look at that information that our bosses and owners tell them, you've got to share this with people tell them how many trucks we have on the road. Tell them how many times a week we deliver in their area. It's not always that it's not that in a lot of cases. And sometimes if you say, tell them that we have 52 engineers on staff, well, for some people talking to an engineer is worse than going to the dentist's office.

So your assumption, although made by good intention, can actually be used against you in a court of sales. So before you decide how valuable a piece of information is, you should slow down and find out what matters most to that prospect. And you may find out that the worst experience they had was with a company that sounds just like the company you're about to tell them is so wonderful. I know this idea is a little hard to get your head around. But trust me, when you least expect it, the most valuable piece of information that you think you're sharing with a customer that's just about to buy, may actually turn them into the best prospect for the next salesperson that they're going to talk to because they walked away from you. Be careful out there. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of sales.

Go out there, be safe, sell strong. Have a great weekend. Let's all go make money next week. Take care