tomer on your demographics and the different ways you can help. It’s not just selling; it’s educating and bring- ing the customer to actively partici- pate in the decision-making process. While some customers feel un- comfortable when a salesperson invades personal space, sitting next to customers when you have something to show them can create a shared common experience. Normally, if you’re sitting across the desk from the prospect, ask if you may step from be- hind the desk so you can go through the presentation together. If you just hand over what you have to show, the customer may not listen to anything you have to say. By sitting next to the customer,
you’re breaking down a wall. The key is to get the prospect to really listen while you keep control of the appoint- ment. The minute you lose control, you must be quiet until you find a way to get that control back. Just the fact that you get deeply involved draws the customer into being a real part of the process. You’re not just some company trying to sell a product or service. You’re really an extension of your customers’ businesses. Most of them recognize this and want to actively participate.
SELLING TIP When Hard Knocks Come Your Way, Use Respond-ability
We’re not necessarily responsible for everything that happens to us. Other people’s actions can affect us. Although the causes of our discomfort may be external, I know of a very powerful antidote. You might call it “respond-ability”: the ability to have a favorable reaction to an unfavorable situation in which we find ourselves through no fault of our own. When something unwelcome happens, asking yourself in despair, “Why did this happen to me?” tends to make
matters worse. A more realistic response would be to say, “I wish this hadn’t happened, but, since it has, I’m going to make the best of it.” By exercising respond-ability, you start a process that turns the lemon of misfortune into a lemonade mix of opportunity and possibility. We’re not always responsible for the hard knocks that come our way, but, if we remain respond-able, we can be
forever free from the negative effects of the people and things that are beyond our control. To put it another way, if you make me unhappy, it’s your fault, but if I stay unhappy, it’s mine, because I failed to unleash the remedial power of my personal respond-ability.
– JOSEPH P. KLOCK
SELLING POWER SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023 | 9 © 2023 SELLING POWER. CALL 1-800-752-7355 FOR REPRINT PERMISSION.
VIDEO: NEW BOOK: SHARED SISTERHOOD
Conducting a facility tour with
the prospect or customer – using in-depth surveys with the goal of getting them interested and more involved in the sales process – can yield high results. There are a lot of little things you can do to directly involve the buyer. Spend a lot of time writing cover letters for proposals, and each cus- tomer really needs to read them to understand the scope of what you’re
offering. You don’t want anyone skip- ping to the price page, so explain before you hand over the proposal that it took eight to 10 hours to put it together and that you spent half of that time on the cover letter. The cus- tomer might just be being polite, but when you get specific like this, more often than not they’ll read the cover letter and you’ll have a chance to outline why your product or service best serves their needs.
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