I believe it was Socrates or Tupac who said “Don’t come up in my kitchen with that weak ass shit” Pretty prophetic and pretty symbolic of lots of sales people out there. At least from the customer’s perspective it is.

Somewhere along the line, some sales reps became clueless and thought that a cheesy, old school line would work. You know the ones, like:

If I could show you a way to improve A, while reducing B. would you seriously consider Superior Widgets? Um, no because your monkey style Kung Fu is ineffective!

I understand how you Feel. Others have Felt the same way but they Found that Superior Widgets was their best choice at the end of the day. Wow that’s the old Feel, Felt, Find rebuttal, hold on a minute. I need to take this call. Oh hi 1970’s, what, you’d like your line of shit back, ok I’ll tell him, please hold.

Here are a few suggestions to go from Old School to Consultant or at least “Old Schoolproof” your career:

Take a good look at the rebuttals you use and do a gut check. Do they pass the “cheese test”? Ask some trusted people in your network what they think. Follow the advice from Play #14 What Tommy Boy Taught Me About Sales and if it doesn’t fit who you are, don’t say it!

Try losing your agenda and showing a real genuine interest in them. Ask kick ass questions that get them thinking. Tony Robbins says that questions, force us inward. Think about that. What questions do you have that will force the other person inward. If what we know about buying is true with regard to people buying emotionally and justifying logically, where do you think the emotion is, on the inside or the outside, grasshopper?

I once heard that we have two ears and one mouth, perhaps God had a plan. I think this one has us all written all over it. We can’t help it; we get excited and next thing you know we are doing what Zig Ziglar refers to as Talking at 70 mph with gusts of up to 120! I think one of the biggest opportunities we miss as human beings is the opportunity to hear someone. Every one has a story and wants to be heard. You’d be surprised what you hear when you listen. And before I forget; you build rapport a hell of lot better this way than being the kazillionth person to say “Oh I see you have golf pictures. Do you like golf? Gag me with a freakin spoon dude!

Master the power of the pause: Pausing keeps you from interrupting but it also works Jedi magic if you allow it. People have a tendency to fill silence with talk. It’s sort of a nervous habit. When you are the initiator of the pause, your prospect might just give you some info you can leverage. It’s also a display of confidence if you can remain silent at times. One caveat: Don’t pause too long or people will pat you on the head and think you are special.

Samson killed a thousand men with the jaw bone of an ass. That many sales are killed every day with the same weapon!

Peace

The Artist Formerly Known As Uncle Paul