Month: December 2008

He’s Got the Magic

I went into five automobile showrooms, all with the same make cars, in order to choose the one where I bought my last car.

My experience at the first four dealerships, after their big toothed smile greetings, each salesperson assured me that I would get the best deal and the best service if I bought a car from them; especially if I bought it on that day.

At the fifth dealership, a very large one, a salesperson named Walt asked me, “Do you want to buy a car, or would you like me to leave you alone while you look at the models on the floor?”

I said, “I want to buy a car” and I told him which model I wanted.

He said, “Who will be driving your new car?”

I said, “Mostly me, but sometimes my wife. She is going to drive our luxury gas guzzler, and I’m going to drive the new one to and from work.”

He said, “Does she need to be in on the decision to buy?”

I said, “Yes, but only to select the exterior and interior colors.”

He said, “What kind of work do you do?”

“I’m a sales consultant and trainer,” I said.

“I wish I had some good sales training before I got into this business,” he said. “I had to learn the hard way.”

“Most good salespeople learn the hard way,” I said. “What’s the most important thing you learned about sales?”

Walt replied, “I came to realize that the prospects are always in control and they want to be treated with respect.”

Later on, when I returned to pick up the car, I asked who the top salesperson in the agency was and they said, “Definitely that would be Walt, even though he’s kind of quiet and reserved…but he’s got something…he’s got the magic.”

Persuasion is a Great Way to Sell If…

Another story from my observations of top producer selling methods…

Bill Silvers was the top producer for the largest textile manufacturer in North America. He was the second of hundreds of top salespeople that I observed working with prospects and customers. During the first sales visit that I went on with him, he was showing his company’s new seasonal textile samples to the owner of a dress manufacturing company. The owner said, “Bill, none of these samples are what we want for this spring’s line. We’re going in a different direction.”

Bill said, “Okay Manny. How about telling me about any changes you plan for your summer line?” They discussed that for the next fifteen minutes and then we left.

Walking to his car, I asked Bill why he didn’t try to persuade the customer that his samples would sell. He said, “Manny knows his business far better than I do. If I tried to persuade him, he would feel disrespected, resist my persuasion and he would resent me for trying. This way, I kept his respect and enhanced the probability of doing business with him in another few months.”

Persuasion is a great way to sell if you can find people who want to be persuaded to buy. But, think about how you would react when someone tried to persuade you to buy something you did not want. You would probably resist and resent them, too. That is why prospects who want to be persuaded are so rare that finding them is a real long shot.

If you really think you are a good persuader then you probably make appointments with people who are interested in your products and services. Interested people may seem to be in need of persuasion, though they seldom want to be persuaded and most of them resist. Salespeople who prospect and sell that way make loads of appointments. However, most of them don’t do much business.

Salespeople who think they are not great persuaders often sell a lot more. They gain a big advantage by focusing on finding and making appointments only with people who already want to buy what they are selling.

Good Selling,
Jacques
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If you want to read more about the advantages of not persuading, the first 4 chapters of our book is available online.

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