1- A Friend Asked Me to Call vs. Telemarketer
at 6:00!
It’s 6:00 p.m. and the phone rings. Yes, it’s
another company rep interrupting your dinner to ask
you for the zillionth time if you want a better rate
on long distance. How do you respond (react might be
a better word)? I tell her “I’d rather pay
MORE money than hear another sales pitch.” Stunned,
the rep has no objection-handler to overcome the, “I’d
rather pay more…” objection.
Now, contrast this fiasco with someone calling, conveniently
at 8:00 p.m., and saying very conversationally, “Sue,
Mitch asked me to call you. He said you might be able
to help me. Do you have a few minutes to speak?”
What’s
the difference? Do I even have to ask?
2-
Asking, vs. telling and selling!
While most of us enjoy engaging in dialogue and conversation,
few people like to be talked at or pitched. You increase
acceptance, lower resistance and eliminate rejection
not by telling and selling but by asking inquisitive
and direct questions. Curiosity may have killed the
cat, but it’s a life-saving characteristic of
all successful people. Are you curious?
If you want to get people on your side, become interested
rather than being interesting.
3-
When you’re ready vs. ACT NOW! The words,
ACT NOW are compelling. They engage the unconscious
trigger known as SCARCITY. Scarcity is powerful as an
unconscious trigger.
“If
you don’t get it now, it will be gone forever.”
We all value something more when it is scarce and time-limited.
All too often, this is a fabricated emotional ploy contrived
to invent demand, heighten interest and cause immediate
action.
Beware of the influence peddler. Unless there is a real
limit on an offer, product or service, this tactic is
a smuggle. Smuggling is bogus and short-sighted. You
make a sale. So what! Your aim is to create a lifetime
customer or business associate. You do that by giving
people the respect to make a decision in their right
time frame - not yours! Let them know you are ready
when they are ready.
4-
Support People vs. Change their Minds!
George Bernard Shaw said, “When given a choice
between changing one’s mind, and proving there
is no need to do so, most people get busy on the proof!”
A powerful way to gain acceptance and trust of other
people is to support their past choices and decisions.
Most of us have plenty of people in our lives ready
to criticize and even condemn OUR choices and decisions.
If we have someone who is unconditionally supportive,
we are drawn to that person like a bee to honey. BE
that person.
Rather than try to convince or persuade, try to understand
the other person’s viewpoint. If you empathize
with me, you are on my side. Support everyone.
5-
Familiar vs. Revolutionary! Have you been involved
in a revolution lately? Only 5% of buyers are innovators
- those who rush to own a product when it’s brand
new. Most people follow comfortably behind and many
are downright frightened of anything revolutionary.
Today, it seems everyone is claiming their products
are revolutionary and breakthrough. Parroting this mantra
raises a red flag, leads to higher resistance and can
cause outright rejection early on.
Most
people don’t want a revolution; they simply want
a solution! Stop using revolutionary. Start talking
about what’s familiar to them.
6-
Destination, Benefits vs. Vehicle, Products! You’ve
likely heard the old business adage… people buy
benefits not facts and features. People want to go somewhere;
the vehicle is often secondary. They want to see the
benefit and feel the value of a decision. Often they
don’t care about the product.
Seller's speak = vehicles and products. Buyer’s
language = destinations and benefits. Do you explain
your offer in seller’s speak, you create more
resistance than is necessary, and sometimes cause outright
rejection. Turn this around today
Speak
about their destination, not your vehicle. Talk only
about the value and benefits they want, not your products
or services.
7-
Medium I Like vs. Medium I Don’t! How
do you like to get your information? Phone, fax, mail,
Email, Internet, audio, video or face-to-face? Ask this
question of EVERYONE you meet. The answer to this question
gives you a decided edge in prospecting and increases
the level of acceptance you experience. It will also
save you a fortune in marketing materials and mailing
costs.
You may have life-changing information, but you if you
don’t give it to me in a medium I like, I may
never benefit from your knowledge and wisdom. If I don’t
have time to read, and you send me a 20-page letter,
it’s likely to sit in my IN box for a long time.
“What’s your preferred medium?” Ask
this question and your materials are given a higher
level of attention, priority and acceptance. Then ask,
“How important is this to you? When will you actually
review this information?” Try this out this week.
8-
Open Conversation vs. Rigid Presentation! When
a seller rigidly follows a script or prepared presentation,
it doesn’t take long before the other person gets
fidgety and antsy. A buyer is merely a spectator whenever
a seller is on a pre-determined, pre-destined track.
It IS important for new people to learn a presentation
approach, to have an outline, agenda and framework for
a call, interview or meeting. Since human interactions
rarely go as planned, it is also critical that your
presentation has flex-ability built in.
You gain high acceptance and limit resistance (and objections)
when you engage in a dialogue that is mutually beneficial.
Maintain a give and take conversation. Discuss what’s
most important to the other person. People disengage
from a conversation in which they feel talked at, rather
than spoken with. If they are not involved or don’t
participate, they become passive spectators. Spectators
have more time to think of reasons WHY NOT, rather than
emotionally buy into the FEELINGS WHY.
Go
into every meeting, appointment and phone call with
an agenda. Explain YOUR purpose, then ask what he wants
to add, delete or change on the agenda. This gives control
to the buyer. Check his body language throughout the
discussion - be certain you don’t adhere too rigidly
to your agenda, or stray too far from his. Create a
dialogue, encourage a positive exchange ideas and information
and watch people open up.
9-
One Key Result vs. Lesser Priorities! Every
person has ONE over-riding consideration, ONE key result,
ONE critical outcome to reach, ONE most important decision
to make. If you can uncover the ONE and align with it
you gain the status as a trusted advisor. You are always
in the game and often, first in line. Ask,
“What
ONE thing, above all others, is the key factor for YOU?”
Uncover the KEY RESULT, the single most important consideration.
Then demonstrate the value of the benefits that directly
and specifically get this KEY RESULT, and you’ll
get little or no resistance.
10-
Law of Relaxation vs. Law of the Farm! Don’t
you laugh when you hear people drone on about how you
can make a gajillion dollars by next Friday… with
no work? “We’ll grow your business for you.”
Better yet, IT WILL BUILD ITSELF!
Whenever I hear this poop, it saddens me to think how
many people actually buy into this drivel. This is theft
of expectations, and a blight on good business people
everywhere. This message cheapens and demeans the effort,
struggle and hard work that success requires.
The Law of the Farm is the iron law of nature that dictates
the harvesting of all natural resources and governs
the cycles of all living things. There’s a time
to sow, and a time to reap.
