Continued from Introduction to the Sales Profession Part 1
1. About ourselves
Do we feel good about ourselves? Are we treating ourselves right? Do we like ourselves? Are we presentable? Have we counted our blessings this morning? Are we always happy and never satisfied? Or, are we miserable? Are we focusing on problems rather than solutions? Are we hiding our feelings? Here is what we need to communicate in the first three minutes of the sales process. Being calm, confident and in control! That will give us credibility. Once we have credibility, we feel good about ourselves, and more importantly, people that we communicate with feel great about us.
2. About themselves
Do we genuinely like people? Do we like to listen? Or, do we prefer to talk? Do we know answers before we even hear the question? Do we stop for three seconds after we hear the question and think about what is being asked? Do we call people by their first names or are we too lazy for that? Do we care about them and their situation? Or, do we just want to show off how much we know? Is it our ego that leads us or is it care and love? How do we transfer our good feelings about people?
It’s actually not that hard. First, really care! Be there for them, not for your own selfish (money) reasons. Second, get them involved. Ask questions. Call them by their first name.
Watch their body language and listen with your eyes (and ears).
Carefully listen to what they ask. Think before you answer.
Praise them on smart and common sense thinking.
Show them that you really care, that you really like them and guess what, they are going to like themselves, and they will like you too!
Do you know anybody in your life that truly loves you and that you hate? Of course not!
3. About our company
Do you believe in what you are doing? Do you understand our vision and mission? Do you agree with the philosophy? Are you proud of being associated with us? Do you feel part of this family? Is this your home? Is this your career or just a job? Do you have ten reasons you tell everybody for why you are excited about this?
So, now that you feel good about us, you have to transfer those feelings. How? Well to start, you have to tell people how you feel and show them your excitement and passion about the solutions that our company provides. Then, ask them how they feel about that? Do they feel the same way? They should, shouldn’t they?
Make sure you use all audio and visual tools to present the credibility of the company, past clients and hard numbers of what we have accomplished.
4. About our services
Do you know all of our clients and services inside and out? Are you proud to have them? Do you know how to use each and every tool we offer and how those tools help us help our clients? Do you know and understand the differences between our services and the services of the competition? Have you done your homework? Can you do an excellent presentation of each and every one of our products and clients? Can you transfer those feelings with no problems? Are you aware that a large percent of the population is in fear of the changes in the marketing industry simply because they are not educated?
You have to make sure you are able to educate a perfect stranger in 15 minutes about what we do, why it's important and how we can help them, so they feel comfortable and relieved of that fear. Knowledge is power. Power is comfort. Comfort allows trust. Trust builds relationships. Relationships change companies.
See? Every step you make moves us in the right direction and helps secure your dreams as reality.
5. About money
Feeling good about money!!!
Affordability is a perceived idea based on priorities.
What this means is if we have a necessity, then it does not matter what it costs. Once the first four feel goods are satisfied – they feel good about us, themselves, our company and our products, provided they have a need - then affordability is never an issue.
It is interesting we judge the affordability of our clients based on our own affordability. If we were comfortable paying $100/month for the services we offer, then we'd expect that to be affordable for almost everybody else. If we don’t feel good about a price, and we don’t own that product, then somehow we are scared other people will also feel uncomfortable about that money. This works against us and them.
Everybody has different priorities. For most clients, our products are a necessity, whether the understand it or not. This is the digital and experiential future. Anyone not participating will be left behind. People need what we have to offer more than you need to sell it to them.