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Avoiding
a Deadbeat
Sales Attitude
Dear Colleague,
It never ceases to amaze me that there are professional sales people
that are about as enthusiastic as a sedated mortician is.
Having a deadbeat attitude in the presence of your prospects and
your clients is a poison that will kill your sales.
You know this. Most salespeople know this. Yet, they continue to
have an apathetic attitude. And they wonder why their sales suffer.
Emotional buying reasons.
Enthusiasm is highly contagious. People buy products and services
for one reason only. That reason is that it initiates some sort
of feeling, some sort of emotion. Here is a brief list of the feelings
or emotional reasons that your prospect will buy from you.
1. They sense a degree of variety or excitement in your product
or service. Why else would someone lay down their cash for a skydiving
adventure?
2. There can be a feeling of security or assuredness that your product
will give them. For example, alarm systems, guarded communities,
extended warranty plans and life insurance may fall into this category.
3. Perhaps they get a feeling of possibility or opportunity. The
opportunity can be something that translates into more revenue for
them or more freedom. Take a look at the stock market and you’ll
grasp this point.
4. Your prospect can even buy based on fear. It could be fear of
the loss of a good deal. Fear that they will miss an opportunity
to save money or fear that their buying choices will not look good
to their peers and friends.
5. Your prospect will also buy from you based on their feelings
of perceived convenience. For example, when someone buys a new home,
a primary consideration is the location of the neighborhood. Is
it close to schools, work, church, shopping, gymnasium, relatives
and friends? If the answer is yes, their level of convenience is
very high.
It is all a perception.
There are many other emotional reasons that people will buy your
product and service. The key point is that it is all a perception
and your level of enthusiasm about your product and service is a
dominant factor in their decision to buy from you.
Once you have tapped into their real reasons for buying by asking
a series of quality questions, it all boils down to your enthusiastic
attitude about your product. After all, if you are not genuinely
enthusiastic about your offering, how can you expect your prospect
to get excited?
If it is true that you buy based on your feelings, then why doesn't
every salesperson in the world try to stimulate feelings of happiness
and security in the mind of their prospect?
Negative thoughts and emotions will kill your sales. Here are five
ways to avoid a deadbeat sales attitude. By the way, if you already
are Mr. or Ms. Positive Attitude, you will really enjoy this refresher
course and you can testify that these steps really work.
1. Harness the power of your body: Every move
that you make with your body sends a direct signal to your brain.
That signal tells your brain that you are happy, sad, indifferent,
puzzled, inquisitive, certain, stressed, positive, joyous or a zillion
other emotions. The happiest, most positive minded people in the
world show it all day long with the power of their body. A smile,
a grin, a deep breath, elevating your eyes, upright posture and
walking with the gate of a prize stallion will help you to increase
your sales. As you interact with your prospect, move with confidence
and poise. Have a warm, friendly smile. Be pleasant and add a little
humor to your presentation. You don’t have to be a Jim Cary
jokester, but humor is contagious and laughter creates more oxygen
flow to the brain.
2. Check your inner conversation. I read recently that
the average human has 40,000 thoughts every day. When I read this
statistic, I immediately thought, "Who counted? I can’t
imagine how researchers arrived at this statistic. What if it is
only half true? Or what if the real number is double? Regardless
of the accuracy of this estimate, imagine the implications of this
revelation. What are you doing with the tens of thousands of thoughts
you have every day? Arrange your thoughts to think of the opportunities
that lay in front of you with every prospect. Continuously think
of the ways that you can serve your customer rather than what is
in it for you. And focus on the long-term benefits of connecting
with your prospects in a deep meaningful way.
3. Prepare, prepare, and prepare. Did I mention
that you should prepare? Preparation reduces fear. When fear is
reduced or eliminated, your thoughts and actions are not hampered
or restricted. You can act naturally and comfortably with your customers.
You will not be unduly concerned about what you are going to say
or do next because you are prepared. You will know your product,
the benefits of your product and you will have answers for common
objections and questions that your prospect may have. There is no
such thing as a lucky sale. A sale happens when preparation meets
opportunity.
4. Concentration of focus. You ability to focus
on the positive outcomes of your sales presentation will determine
your level of sales success. In other words, are you concentrating
on what you do want to happen rather than what you do not want to
happen? Focus on your sales objectives and goals rather than external
influences over which you have no control, like a loose economy
or market timidity. The thing you focus on will expand to become
your reality.
5. Be authentic. All of the sales strategies in
the world will not help you one bit if you are not a genuinely authentic
caring person. Your customer knows when you are faking it. Your
customer knows who really cares about them and their needs. Your
customer knows when they need to wear their boots, because the buffalo
fertilizer is getting thick. Be your unique self and your customer
will gravitate to you and trust you. The biggest benefit in being
authentic is that you will be living your life with self-confidence,
high values and integrity. Folks, it doesn’t get any better
than that.
Avoiding a deadbeat attitude will help you sell more, earn more
and achieve more. Your level of career satisfaction will skyrocket.
Until we meet each other in person, take great care.
Happy Selling to You!
Paul Montelongo
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October 27, 2003
What's new on
"101 Power Strategies"
101 "low-cost" and "no-cost" proven
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Paul
Montelongo
"America's Construction Industry Motivator"
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