SALES IQ


Lead with Their Need if You Want to Succeed JIM CATHCART


My wife, Paula, said, “Our 25th wedding anni- versary is approaching, and I want to give you time to prepare.”


I said, “That’s five years away; why tell me now?”


“Because that’s our diamond an- niversary.” I corrected her, “No, the 25th silver; it’s the 50th


is that is diamond.” Then she corrected me, “No, our 25th


is a diamond anniversary!” “Oh,” I replied, “I get it. What kind of diamond do you want?” She smiled


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and described her wishes. Since I had five years to save up for it, I was able to get her exactly what she wanted. She also asked me, “What do you want for our 25th


?”


I told her that what I really wanted was to have her on the backseat of a motorcycle as we toured the Alps for 16 days. She agreed and we had two very happy experiences.


In fact, since she still has the ring,


we repeated the motorcycle tour again for our 30th


torcycle” anniversary).


It was smart of Paula to give me so much advance notice. What she wanted was very special and cer- tainly expensive. A short-term request would have generated a “no” reply. She was also smart enough to ask what I wanted. Both of us got our wishes and we are still smiling today from the joy of it all. Now let’s bring this to you. How do you get a customer to accept a multi- thousand dollar quote for your prod-


(obviously our “mo-


DROGATNEV / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM


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