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Hardcore Sales Vs. The Relationship Part II: Building A Relationship With Your Prospect!
Makin' The SauceLet's face it, you're on a roll. After getting down to your attorney's office to sign the new Living Trust and then diligently tracking down .....
I would like to discuss some of the positives and negatives of
sales and how they relate to relationship building. I would also
like explain how you can go about starting to build a solid
vendor-client relationship, and what pitfalls to avoid in the
process.
DON'T ever give your prospective client the feeling of "This
person is just here to sell me something" or conveying even the
smallest inkling that portrays "Selling".
DO always "help" your client arrive at the fact that your are
here to provide a service or product that they want and need.
You are not there to sell; you are there to help.
DON'T go into the "Salesperson Overdrive". There are many of you
out there, including myself, that must fight the urge to SELL or
to Dominate the prospect. Whether you know it or not, you are
setting yourself (and the prospect) up for that final decision,
"Yes Or No, What Will It Be"? You end up in the situation which
most of us despise, "The Sell".
Your entire Business Persona should be a Soft Persuasion. This
means that you never try to make your prospect see things your
way, It's quite the opposite actually. Soft Persuasion is in the
Packaging. It's the way you package your company, yourself and
your product or service. I don't mean the box it comes in. When
I speak of packaging, I mean the way you portray your company
and yourself. It should be a positive and confident portrayal,
not an overbearing one.
Hard Persuasion too often comes back to bite you in the ass.
Hard Persuasion separates you from your prospect, moving them
away from you. Nobody likes to be bullied, and that's what Hard
Persuasion or the Hard Sell comes down to. No matter how nicely
you do it, you are bullying them into seeing things your way.
This is not to say that there are not some of you who can make
this work, but for most of us the Hard Sell Close is a feat that
is beyond our capabilities. This is because we are business
professionals and technical experts, not seasoned sales people.
Why Self-Publish Your Book?When I meet an author with a great book concept, one whos definitely the right person to write that book, ..... Approach your prospect as if they are already a client. Assume
this because they truly need your service, not because you want
to make the sale. How you see and treat your prospective client
is how they will see themselves. Perception is a strong tool to
be used wisely.
Cover all the details before they can become potential problems
in the closing of the sale. Covering all the details can help
you avoid being pulled into an objection contest. Always
maintain the one-to-one Relationship. Once you move outside of
that circle and separate yourself from the prospect, it's almost
impossible to get back. You have removed yourself from their
domain of trust to the domain of a salesperson. Crossing this
line even once will cause your prospect to mistrust you and see
you as a salesperson, not a service provider.
Staying low-key and creating an atmosphere of "no- pressure" is
imperative. Remember; portray confidence, not arrogance. This is
what Relationship Selling is all about. You want your prospect
to feel at ease, not backed up into a corner waiting to strike
out at whatever you have to say.
Above all, learn how to handle and deal with rejection in a
positive manner. If you have carried yourself confidently
explained all the details and they tell you "no sale", it may be
that they were not a good prospect in the first place. It could
also mean that they are indeed still a good prospect and they
simply don't know it yet.
Next week, I'll pass on some techniques used in the process of
relationship building and selling. Until then my friend work
hard carrying yourself with confidence and honesty.
If you missed last weeks Part I, you can review it at:
http://216.147.104.180/articles/data/20001018031828.shtml
It's been a pleasure. Please Feel Free to write me
mailto:wildbill@greatdesignz.com and let me know what you
"Honestly" think about sales, marketing and of course my article!
I hope you can join me next week for Part III: "Tips and
Techniques For Relationship Selling"
Would You Like To Discover More About The Advantages Of
Relationship Marketing and Personal Branding? Check out Rick
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This Powerful new book puts YOU on the fast track to becoming an
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how he did it; he also asked many of the top Internet
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at all serious about achieving success on the Internet, you need
to start Branding YOU and Breaking the Bank!
Do yourself a favor. Check It Out!
http://www.roibot.com/bybb.cgi?IM4069_iz
I'll be e-Seeing you Soon
About the author:
Wild Bill Montgomery http://www.MakingProfit.com Home of the
"InfoZone" Business and Marketing Article Archives!
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