SALES IQ If they are speaking at a college,
they read up on the school, the community, the policies, the instruc- tors, the campus news, the Greek organizations, and the sports teams. They learn about the rival schools and where some of the recent graduates came from and went. By the time they deliver their presentation they are able to (seemingly) effortlessly make references everyone can relate to. You can do that too.
The Right Things to Say JIM CATHCART
How do some people always know the right thing to say? Early in my speaking career, I got to know the famous motivational speaker Zig Ziglar and frequently sat in his audience spellbound. He had so many great one-liners and eloquent answers to questions. I thought, “There is no way I can compete at his level. I could never come up with such great wisdom so easily.” Have you had those thoughts about someone you admire?
Over the years, I got to know Zig, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, Og Mandino, and many of their peers. In fact, I ultimately became one of those peers, and Zig and I collaborated on some projects and shared the stage on a few occasions. I still think he was light-years ahead of where I am, but I also learned the secret to his depth and quickness. People who seem to be a bot-
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tomless pit of content – who always know the right reference or fact – are actually voracious learners. Look at comedians like Robin Williams or commentators like Dennis Miller and you will find that they need an endless flow of content. They devour the news, studying random sources related to their areas of interest or the interests of their audience.
On your next sales contact, take advance time to learn about their com- pany, the industry or profession, their products, and their history. Read every page (all of them) on their Website. Get sources on the founders, the mission, and vision of the firm. Find out who their main competitors are and what they think of them. Learn to pronounce all of their product names. Identify the key players: those they admire and those they don’t. Mystery-shop them: go to a dealer, sample or test a prod- uct, call their order desk, find out how they handle customer complaints. If they have a book about their company or product, buy it and read it cover to cover. Really read it – even the refer- ence notes in the back of the book. When you finally meet with them,
the references to ideas, products, events in the past, upcoming an- nouncements, names of key people, and such will just roll off your tongue because you are so thoroughly prepared. THAT was Zig’s secret and it can be yours as well. Develop a template to follow as you prepare for each sales contact – or use mine from my e-book Connecting with Your Customer. Follow a standard process that helps you cover all the bases. Then, many years from now, you’ll have others writing articles about how brilliant you are and how they feel so overshadowed by your excellence. As Zig said, “I will see you at the
top!”
Jim Cathcart is a hall of fame profes- sional speaker and bestselling author of Relationship Selling and 16 other books. Contact Jim at
Cathcart.com.
JESUS SANZ /
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
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