Mr Shmooze Weblog

Two words every human being loves to hear … “you’re right!”

“Free” and “new” are the most powerful words in marketing and advertising.

A great voice mail can be a powerful sales tool. Stay late one night, and leave some “check in” voice mails with your customers. Be sharp, concise, short and to the point.

Never ask if a prospect is the decision maker. It’s insulting, and the simple answer is yes, because people at all levels have the power to say no.

Little agreements lead to big agreements. Research shows that by establishing a pattern of agreeing on small issues, our chances of reaching consensus on the main point (the sale) increase dramatically.

Be sure to pepper your interactive presentation and client discussion with the opportunity for him or her to agree along the way.

A great way to disarm a tough or abusive buyer is to ask the following question.

“This is very important to me and I’m obviously not doing something right here. Can you give me some advice? How would you present these services if you were in my position?”

Abusive people like to feel big and powerful, and they love to give advice. This type of question disarms them, and you are likely to get a much warmer response.

Great salespeople use other peoples’ names more than average salespeople. They know that each time they mention the other person’s name, the listener is 50% more likely to remember the next sentences that follow.

A price objection is a challenge of value. Value must be proven by facts. Be sure you have a rock solid command of all the benefits your product/service brings to a client (examples … time savings, spill over impact, profound impact going forward). A price objection is no time to be wishy washy … specifics will carry the moment.

You don’t have to always ask for an order (sometimes it’s too soon), but always ask for “something,” that is an action step you can use to keep the dialog alive.

The more you know about your customers’ kids, and can engage intelligently about their interests, the more warmly you will be embraced by your customers.