The many people who are involved in our Mr. Shmooze community are interested in dynamic customer relations. Most of you spend a lot of time trying to enhance those relationships both personally and as a smart and enjoyable way to do business. But how do we know we are actually making progress with our customers for all the energy and activity we are putting into it. Here is something we like to do to add some discipline to the process.
I flew back to Austin from Chicago yesterday. Long trip, tired, just like the rest of you road warriors. Since the weather is changing I took my leather jacket for the first time since last winter . . . a nice one and my favorite. Got off the plane, went down to the cab stand and, of course, no jacket. I left it on the plane. I ran back up to the ticket counter . . . big lines and a long line to re-enter security. I was stuck. Read More
So you have just spent 30-60 minutes with an important prospect. You have covered a lot of ground and there has been some great interaction, but you are a little worried that there is so much information in the air that it may become diluted after you leave. Here is a great closing line to be sure that does not happen. Read More
Social networking can be a great tool. It can accelerate the number of contacts we have and it can expose our products and our ideas to a large audience. What it does not do as well as face communication is sell and close. Put another way, social networking really is not “selling,” in its purest sense, it is marketing, and marketing has never replaced selling in any medium, including on the web. Read More
I know as salespeople you have already heard how important listening is and that you consider yourself a good listener, but I am defining listening differently here so . . . listen up!
It is natural for us, as salespeople, to engage our prospects and customers on a business level and then listen for their business needs, which hopefully our products and services can help them address. And that’s great, but what about their emotional needs? Read More
I was talking to one of my sales friends who is very successful and has been at the selling game a long time. He told me, “You know, I don’t think people buy because they want something . . . I think they buy because they are afraid they are going to miss something.” Read More
We work with several psychologists on the emotional elements of both buying and selling. One thing they have always stressed to us is the importance of what they call “validation.”
Validation is defined in this context as acknowledging and respecting the other person’s point of view. We may not agree with it, but we acknowledge and validate his/her right to have and express it. Read More
Alan Weiss tells a great story in his book, “Great Consulting Challenges.”
A national hair cutting chain moved across the street from a neighborhood barber shop and advertised $5.00 haircuts as an opening promotion. The barber’s sons advised him to cut his price to $4.00 to ward off the new challenge. Instead, he put up a sign that said, “We Fix $5.00 haircuts for $10.00.” According to Weiss, people loved it. Read More
Occasionally we all run into an especially tough customer in the form of a classic “know it all” who takes particular delight with arguing every point and can even become almost abusive in the process. At first blush, it may seem like we have no chance, but often these types of buyers can be closed by a little “jiu jitsu.” Here is what I mean…
It probably comes as no surprise that great athletes and great salespeople share a number of important personality traits including the need for achievement and competitiveness among others. But there is another trait, which sports psychologists rate especially high, which great salespeople often share as well. That trait is optimism, in the form of resilience. Check this out. Read More
A lot of people who read our book and attend our workshops like to focus on the concept of “elevation,” that is, taking what other people might consider ordinary touch points with clients and creatively “elevating” them into memorable touches. Check out this video as a great example of elevation. Read More
In our workshops, people often ask us about giving gifts to clients . . . and we like to take the focus away from the gift and over to the emotional connection we are trying to establish with the client. The two messages we hope to get across with a gift are:
So it is not so much about the gift, as it is about connecting with a sweet spot in the process. Here is an example. Read More
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