Law #1: Keep your mouth shut and your ears open.
This is important; for the first few minutes of any sales
interaction:
- Don’t talk about yourself.
- Don’t talk about your products.
- Don’t talk about your services.
- And above all, don’t recite your sales pitch!
Obviously, you want to introduce yourself. You want to tell your prospect your name and the purpose of the visit (or phone call, etc.), but what you don’t want to do is ramble on about your product or service. (After all, at this point: what could you possibly talk about? You have no idea if what you’re offering is of any use to your prospect).
Law #2: BREAK Sell with questions, not answers.
Remember this: Nobody cares how great you are until they understand how great you think they are.
Forget about trying to sell your product or service and focus instead on why your prospect wants to buy.
To do this, you need to get fascinated with your prospect; you need to ask questions (lots and lots of questions) with no
hidden agenda or ulterior motives.
Many years ago I was selling CD’s at a music festival. It didn’t take me long to figure out that it wasn’t my job to sell
the CD’s, it was my job to get the earphones on every person that walked by my booth!
I noticed right away whenever people sensed I was attempting to sell them a CD, their walls of defense immediately popped up
and they did everything in their power to get as far away from me as they could.
So instead, I made my job about introducing new music to anyone who wanted to put on the earphones. Once they heard the music,
they either liked it or they didn’t. I didn’t do any selling and made more money that week than any other CD hawkers at the
festival.
Back then I didn’t know anything about sales but I knew enough about human nature to understand that sales resistance is an
oxymoron… the act of selling CREATES the RESISTANCE!
Which leads us into the next principle…
Law #3: Pretend you’re on a first date with your prospect.
I’m sure you’ve experienced it a hundred times. You walk into a store and the clerk says: May I help you? and how did you
respond? No thanks, just looking. It’s as if the response were genetically embedded into your DNA. It’s a survival response. Like blocking your face when you see a Frisbee hurling towards your head.
When you learn what you’re really selling and stop trying to convince or persuade your customers into doing something they
may or may not want to do… you’ll see your customers trusting you as a valued advisor and wanting to do more business with you
as a result.
And how do you do this?
Get curious about your prospects. Ask about the other products or services they’re already using. Are they happy? Is it too
expensive, not reliable enough? Find out what they really want. If not from you, then perhaps from someone you could recommend.
(Note: you’re not conducting an impersonal survey here; in other words, don’t ask questions for the sake of asking them, ask
instead, things that you’re really curious about).
Law #4: Speak to your prospect like you speak to your family or friends.
There is never any time that you should switch into the sales mode with ham-handed persuasion clichés and tag lines.
Affected speech patterns, exaggerated tones, and slow, hypnotic sounding sales inductions are never acceptable in today’s
professional selling environments.
Speak normally, (and of course, appropriately) like you would when you’re around your friends and loved ones.
Law #5: Pay close attention to what your prospect isn’t saying.
Is your prospect rushed? Does he or she seem agitated or upset?
If so, ask: Is this a good time to talk? If it’s not, perhaps we can meet another day. Most sales people are so concerned
with what they’re going to say next that they forget that there’s another human being involved in the conversation.
Law #6: If you’re asked a question, answer it briefly and then move on.
Remember: this isn’t about you; it’s about whether you’re right
for them.
Law #7: Only after you’ve correctly assessed the needs of your prospect (meaning: you’ve gotten over to their side of the world) do you mention anything about what you’re offering.
I knew a guy who pitched a mannequin (I’m not kidding)! He was so stuck in his own automated, habitual mode; he never bothered
to notice that his prospect wasn’t breathing. Don’t get caught in this trap. Know whom you’re speaking with before figuring
out what it is you want to say.
Law #8: Refrain from delivering the three-hour product seminar.
Don’t ramble on and on about things that have no bearing on anything your prospect has said. Pick a handful of things you
think could help with your prospect’s particular situation and tell him about it. (And if possible, reiterate the benefits in
his own words, not yours).
Law #9: Ask the prospect if there are any barriers to them taking the next logical step?
After having gone through the first eight steps, you should have a good understanding of your prospects needs in relation to
your product or service. Knowing this, and having established a mutual feeling of trust and rapport, you are now ready to bridge
the gap between your prospect’s needs and what it is you’re offering. You’re now ready for…
Law #10: Invite your prospect to take some kind of action
This principle obliterates the need for any closing techniques because the ball is placed on the prospect’s court.
A sales close keeps the ball in your court and all the focus on you: the salesperson. You don’t want the focus on you. You
don’t want the prospect to be reminded that he or she is dealing with a salesperson. You’re not a salesperson, you’re a
human being offering a particular product or service.
For more information on effortlessly convert 25-30% more prospects into PAYING CUSTOMERS, check out Len Foley’s new
book: Sales Without the Sucker Punch! www.21stCenturySalesTraining.com
