Continued from Selling the Truth, Part 1…
Excerpted from the book, Business Black Belt
Like a said before, I can tell in a heartbeat now if a salesperson is coming to pitch me because he or she wants the deal or if he or she thinks they have something I could really use. Sometimes it doesn’t matter and I buy regardless of a sleazy salesperson, because I want to buy the product or service anyway. Unfortunately for them, these people are very forgettable.
On the other hand, if I’m looking for something really important or expensive, I want to work with my kind of salesperson. It’s OK to cop to your pitch If you don’t recognize that they’re buying from you, then you could be making a sales pitch at them. If you catch yourself making this mindless pitch, you can always turn things around and get your customer back. You can always dig yourself out of the hole and come clean. Try asking them something like this:
- Am I pitching you too hard on this?
- I’ve talked perhaps a little too much; where are we? • I’ve thrown a lot of numbers at you; does this make sense?
- I went off on a tangent there; did I even come close to answering your question?
- Maybe you shouldn’t buy right now.
Let’s talk about your situation—maybe I can send you in the right direction. This is not a sales technique. It’s as simple as doing the right thing for the person in front of you and not what’s necessarily most profitable for you, regardless of what’s best for them. That’s manipulative and it’s what gave salespeople a bad reputation. Not only will you sell more, but you’ll feel great about what you sold. You’ll be happy to see that customer again, knowing that what you sold them did them a service. That customer will be happy to see you again because you steered them in the right direction. They’re also happy to refer you to their friends and family.
I don’t care how much you spend on advertising, if people give you a bad reference, business will be tough. This, I think, is a very honorable attitude. It’s not arrogant or showing off. Your sales representation has a matter-of-factness to it.
It’s not about having a positive mental attitude or psyching yourself up. You know who you are and that commands respect, separates you from the sales yahoos, and attracts people to you because they want to do business with you.
