A sales person can make a difference from the beginning of a sale. Last month, we discussed the importance of being proactive in the greeting and addressing the customer’s usual reply of, “I’m just looking.” with a greeting of “Hi folks, are you out looking and shopping around?” Throughout the sales process, a sales person should practice cognitive disassociation. Disassociate, in the customers mind, every action or phrase used by all other sales people. After the meet and greet it’s important to set the stage for the sales process by using a job mission. A job mission addresses the four major fears most cusomters feel: fear of getting the wrong vehicle, wrong price, wrong or no information or the sales proccess itself.
Example: “Mr. Customer, my job is simple. I try to help all my customers find the right product/service, the right price or budget, the right information and make it a different buying experience from what you have experienced before.” Pre-frame all the customer’s fears in a positive light before they manifest into objections or negative expectations.
To further pre-frame expectations of the customer and make an immediate impact on them, a sales person must be prepared to clearly state their SDP – Specific Defining Proposition. An effective SDP explains to the customer the specific reasons why the sales person, dealership or product is their best choice. Sales people have been taught for years to tell customers their dealership has good service. Tell your story, tel it well and tell it often. If the decision comes down to money with your customer, there must be deciding factor that swings the decision in your favor. Another way to pre-frame expectations is to accurately define the cusomter’s problem. All customers have certain problems they will easily define through keywords. These keywords can be found through proper profile questions. The good news is that customers usually have only one to three keywords that define what problems they are trying to solve through their purchase.
Two great profile questions to ask that will always lead to keyword answers are, “What is the most important thing to you, when you buy?” and “What is the most important thing about the product/service itself that you are wanting in this next purchase?” These keywords allow you to tailor your presentations to the customer’s specific problems. Sale people provide emotional solutions to problems.
The old saying that, “Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care” is true. Don’t be like most sales people and try to just sell products or services. Stop doing what traditional sales training has always taught, which is to find wants and needs and sell to them. Selling is so much more than that. Instead, try to serve people with the attitude of TLC – Think Like a Customer. The derivative of the word sell means to serve. To serve people means that sales people can and usually will, make a bigger difference than money.
Mark Tewart
Author of “How To Be a Sales Superstar”
- Break All the Rules and Succeed While Doing It
(John Wiley & Sons 2008)
***In book stores and Amazon October 17, 2008***
www.howtobeasalessuperstar.info
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