and active listening attitude. Your re- assuring nod will help the salesperson articulate his or her problem without hesitation.


5. Help separate fact from fiction. Sometimes salespeople begin their lament about a situation with an er- roneous conclusion. To sort out the facts, ask for precise details and help them review the situation objectively. 6. Offer reassurance. If the salesperson is upset after a difficult encounter with a client, avoid launch- ing into an avalanche of logical ex- planations – and refrain from making superior remarks like, “You should have...” done this or that. Pay atten- tion to your salesperson’s feelings. Your reassuring tone of voice and your words of empathy are far more powerful than an elaborate analysis of the situation.


7. Become the anchor in the storm. Once the salesperson has


SELLING TIP Keep Your Chin Up


I am going to tell you the truth about this naughty world: Whichever way you’re going, up or down, people want to help you along. If you are going up, we all want to boost; if you are going down, we all want to push. That is what we call “sympathy.” You hear complaints that the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. That has always been the case, sim- ply because it is human nature. Society has always been organized to increase the wealth of the wealthy and the power of the powerful – also to make the weak weaker. The rule is that “to him that hath shall be given, and


from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.” There’s no use whining about it. It is simply one of the flinty laws of nature. The only thing to do with nature’s laws is to adjust oneself to them and not to complain. This might be called the “law of the inertia of


prosperity.” You are guilty yourself. Who do you want to see? The man everybody wants to see. And you read the book everybody’s reading and go to the store where it is “the thing” to go. “Follow the crowds,” says the advertiser, with his


calmed down, you can address the logical issues involved in the situation. If the salesperson is very agitated, keep your cool.


8. Ask the salesperson to col- laborate on the solution. It is to your advantage not to hand the solution to your salesperson on a silver platter. Ask instead, “Why do you think the customer reacted this way?” Or, “If you had to do this over again, what would you do differently?” Instead of giving away the solution, use ques- tions that engage the salesperson in a collaborative discovery process. You may say, “Let’s think about this together and see what ideas we can come up with.” After you’ve reached a conclusion, the salesperson will feel rewarded by the synergistic effort. 9. Share the solutions and the


credit. After the salesperson’s prob- lem has been resolved, thank the salesperson for trusting you and for


‘‘


It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. J. K. ROWLING


working with you on this challenge. What makes the encounter meaning- ful is that you’ve reduced the sales- person’s emotional pain, facilitated learning, and restored the confidence necessary to stay productive. 10. Be firm if you have to. Be- ing friendly and understanding is not helpful if the salesperson has prob- lems with boundaries. It’s your job to remind your salespeople of the rules and to let them know you will enforce them. Sometimes the most meaning- ful management moments come after you’ve drawn the line in the sand. 


shrewd knowledge of our makeup. If you have a hundred dollars extra, to whom do you want to hand it? To the poor man who needs it? Not at all, but to the rich banker who does not need it. If I ask you for the loan of a quarter you will pass it over without a word (if you think it is a trifling matter to me); but, if you suspect I really am in want and need the quarter to buy a little food, that’s quite another affair. You can’t encourage that sort of thing – I should go to the Associated Charities. Now, the way to use this law is to feign prosperity even if you have it not. Keep your chin up. Wear good clothes. Don’t withdraw from the society of the prosperous. Look pleasant. Don’t let yourself get down at the heel. Don’t get that poor-beggar look on your face. It isn’t hypocrisy. It isn’t pretense. It is sheer courage. It is letting the world know that, while you live, you pur- pose to fight, and that, like old General Zachary Taylor, you “don’t know when you’re licked.”


Keep smiling and an unfriendly universe will not know what to do with you – so it will crown you. Says Alfred de Vigny: “All those that struggle against the unjust heavens have had the admiration and secret love of men.” Fate is a bluff. Face her, defy her, and she will fawn on you.


Fate is cruel, but only to the quitter. – DR. FRANK CRANE SELLING POWER OCTOBER 2019 | 13 © 2019 SELLING POWER. CALL 1-800-752-7355 FOR REPRINT PERMISSION.


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