Category: Blog

One of the more stressful situations for non-sellers is networking.  Often times you’re at a chamber of commerce luncheon,  trade-show, cocktail event or meet-up and you feel you should “working the crowd” to drum up business.  However like public speaking, many fear the pressure of making small-talk. All too often you find yourself uncomfortably milling about the room, awkwardly looking for a familiar face.  It’s hard kicking off a conversation and you don’t want to be considered pushy. Given we spend most of our time with people we know, it’s a strange experience, meeting strangers!

The goal in these networking events is to meet new people, find out if any are qualified prospects and exchange cards so you can follow up at a later time.  Instead of seeing the event as an angst ridden junior high dance, consider taking on one of the following mindsets to: ease the stress, lower your fear and raise your ability to generate genuine conversation.

When you enter the room find someone who is alone, step up and take on one the following personas:

1. Be a Bartender – Consider you’re a bartender at a corner pub in a large city. Surrounding the establishment are many homes, condominiums and apartments. One evening a man  enters the room and pulls up to the bar. It’s clear from their body language they’ve had a long day. They are dressed stylish, yet a bit disheveled. They have no twinkle in their eye and when you ask them what they’re having, they provide a two word response.  This is the case where you need to be the Bartender “Hey buddy, how you doing? You seem a bit down today? What’s going on? Tell me about your problems?” In this situation, you  ask questions like a therapist, but unlike a therapist you’re trying to see if their issues are in the space of your business. Do they use your competitors? What do they think about them? Have they ever considered switching and if interested would they like to exchange contact information?  This is being a bartender.
2. Be A Guest at a Wedding Reception – Consider you’re at Cousin Sissies wedding. You’re at the reception and it’s filled with large round tables and decorated with streamers and flowers. You’re seated at one of the tables and most of the people are relatives, relatives that you don’t know that well, but you’ve known them all your life. Your job is to ask  everyone for an update on their lives: “So Uncle Joe are you still working at the factory?  How about Aunt Maryl is she feeling better? And your daughter, what’s her name? Jessie? That’s right what’s she doing these days”.  In  this situation the key thought is to consider everyone a cousin at the networking event, you’re all family. You can ask about family and hobbies. Ask about work and if they do things that you might sell. Ask how it’s working and if they are happy with what they have.  If you find someone qualified you can ask for their contact information. This is being a cousin at a wedding reception.
3. Be a Research Scientist – Consider you’re a market research scientist, taking a poll of shoppers on the sidewalk for some new improved cleaning product, political referendum,  or urban planning study. As people walk by you ask “Hi I’m studying kitchen cleanser use, which one do you use now?  What do you think of the idea of annexing the North  property for a park?“  At the networking event  you might take a poll about many topics “Hi where are you from? What do you do?  Do you  currently use my competitor?  How would you rate them? Are you happy with them?  Would you ever consider switching” and other such questions. If it’s clear the person you’re polling is not a match, you quickly say “nice to meet you” and  you move onto the next  person, like a bee goes from flower to flower, slowly collecting  the pollen of business cards.

If you haven’t seen a common thread in these mental mindsets it’s this:  People are people, we’re all cousins,   and most are comfortable talking about themselves when asked questions.

The trick for you, is to:

1. Stimulate conversation
2. Get people to talk about themselves
3. Find out their pain and desire in some context
4. Sift out which people are qualified prospective clients
5. Exchange contact information to follow up

By taking one of these three mindsets: Bartender, Wedding Guest, Research Scientist it takes pressure off you.   Look at your own life. You are a neighbor, a relative,  and a shopper on the street. When you start to see strangers as people, just like you, it’s much easier to find the energy to connect.

Of these three mindsets, which of them seem to make the most sense for you?

Does it help to enter a networking situation with a process in mind, with some goals lined up and a clear set of tasks to be completed?  Or do you think this is all silly? I’d love to hear what you think.  But the fun doesn’t end with this post. Click here for five bartender jokes

As a business professional it’s important to close deals and grow your business.  But the process of closing deals is often a mystery for people new to sales. When starting out, people tend to focus more on what they’re saying versus that of the prospective client. This is disaster in the making.

And it’s especially a problem when you’re passionate about your product or if you’re the least bit competitive. You know all the facts and figures about your product, don’t you? And you’re also certain that once they buy your service, they will love what you can provide.  You have the attitude “if I can just get them to listen, it will be OBVIOUS that my services are  clearly  the best and people will be happy to open their checkbooks.”  Yet nothing can be farther from the truth.

Empathy is defined as the ability to recognize the suffering and passion of others.  In sales we call this finding their “hurt”; what deeply concerns them, frustrates them, and endangers their profitability. Or on the flipside, what are their hopes and dreams when it comes to growing their business.   If you can understand the answer to these questions,   you can leverage that  knowledge for your  business.

Here are four  ways you can use empathy to win sales.

1.     Ask Questions

The biggest mistake new sellers often make is practicing their presentation versus practicing the questions they should ask.   It should be the other way around.  At your first meeting,   ask lots of pointed questions. As they answer the questions ask for further details. Dig into their frustrations, understand how it affects their efficiency, the quality they provide their clients and how it costs them money  or resources.

This may seem odd, but the  asking of questions builds trust. Your prospective client appreciates that you’re genuinely  trying to understand their business.  You are proving, by your actions, that you care about what they say.  You are displaying empathy, right now.   It may not feel like it, but you’re also closing the sale!

2.     Listen Listen Listen

Be patient when they answer the questions. Give them the impression that you’re  a  person that genuinely care’s about their problems.  As they list issues,  place  the items on a list. This  proves to them that you’re engaged and  you intend on doing something with the information they are sharing.

As you meet other clients, over time you will see the same issues pop up again and again.  Before long you’ll know what they’re going to say, before they say it. Yet never assume you know the solution, even if you know the solution.  Every so often you’ll get a new issue and it gets added to the list.  Just stay focused on listening, and repeat back what they say to prove you really care.

Again, it may not feel like it, but you are closing the sale.   By listening deeply, you are proving to be a trusted confidant.

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3.     Let them drive the conversation

Give them the illusion they ‘re driving the conversation. By asking lots of questions, guided by their answers,  it gives them the sense they’re interviewing you versus the other way around.  The skilled seller already knows all the common issues. They just  waiting for them all to surface. Patience is the key. It takes time to build trust.

4.     Propose Solutions Based On Their Answers

This is where you start your presentation or demonstration.  Use the list of issues you’ve collected to  order your presentation. You might say “You said you have this issue, let me show you how we address this”.  Repeat this process over and over. They might have many questions. Continue to let them drive the direction. Keep going until all issues have been addressed positively by your solution.

If you can get them to say yes to your product or service, you’ve closed them!   This is not an exhaustive explanation of closing. But as you can see that when you sell goods and services in the  context of  issues based on their frustrations and desires, it’s far far easier to close the deal.

It’s Not About You, It’s About Them

It’s important to understand the context of any business transaction. You and the  client are making a trade. They have needs and desires and they have the money that can improve their situation. They are in the driver seat. It’s great that you’re excited about what you can provide. But it’s got to start with them.  It’s not about your desire to make a sale.  You must answer the question: can you provide value to their organization?   The only way to  know this is to focus on the clients needs and desires.  Once you place you’re focus on understanding them, you’ll be  using  the tools of empathy to build a relationship that will last.

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Once upon a time….  the Sunday newspaper was delivered directly to people’s homes. It was a large newspaper, mostly filled with ads to lure customers. People loved the ads because it provided a means to comparison shop. In those day most people were skeptical of the sales people in those shops.  Caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) was big in their minds. Any information to level the playing field was  appreciated.  Sales people enjoyed having the upper hand.

One day the Internet arrived! And soon it  was delivered directly into people’s homes. As people chatted and sent email, websites were created solely for comparison shopping. The Internet contained far more information than the Sunday paper could ever provide. Before long it was a case of caveat venditor, let the seller beware.  People were so informed; they often knew more about the products and services than the sales people. There was  a concern that sales people are no longer necessary. Buyers merely need  to click a link,  to place a product into a virtual shopping cart.  

But this did not bring an end to the sales profession.

To Sell is Human

Daniel Pink, in his book “To Sell Is Human” states “The sales person isn’t dead. The salesperson is alive because the sales person is us.”  We live in a world where there are too many choices.  The purchasing decisions we face are not fully understood and we have limited time to shop.  Anyone who can help us choose,  and do so in a wise manner,  is a valued sales professional. Many  professions have responsibilities that require  persuading, influencing and convincing others. Taken in this context, we’re all in sales, or what Pink calls “non-sales selling“.

The modern sales professional is all about upserving i.e.,  doing more for their clients, exceeding their expectations and building relationships that last. Sales built on listening, problem discovery, problem solving, helping and serving are key skills in a competitive marketplace.  Honing those skills, are critical for any business’s long term success.

Here’s the link To Sell is Human – Daniel Pink.   It’s a must read for non-pushy sellers.

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Not all athletes can compete in the Olympics, only the very best. To become a participant, athletes must qualify. This qualification generally demands entrants to complete a competition within some time, distance, height, or score. The same thing is true of prospective clients.

Not all clients are cut-out to be customers. Their business may not be a good candidate for your goods or services and far too often sellers blindly presume that all prospects can become clients. This is not true. In the event that  a seller  is one of those types that “don’t take No for an answer“, they both  annoy innocent people and fail to get a sale. Don’t be like that!

How can you avoid this? Here are five steps for qualifying prospects.

1. Don’t assume anything about the client.
2. Realize the you don’t know anything, until the client speaks.
3. Listen.
4. Match fears and desires to your solutions.
5. If there is a match, proceed.

Understand  that “not knowing” what the client wants and working from that perspective is square one. From there you can discover if indeed they  are a true prospect.  Empathy for your client is a good way at start!  Click here to learn how.

 

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