- Connecting with your customers
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What's your selliing style? How do you connect to and with customers? Are you the one who is 100% right, totally correct, and never wrong? If that's how you present to a prospect ... and you come across as being or at least thinking you're always right, then maybe, just maybe, your prospect is feeling like they're wrong. You may have alienated the customer or prospect. Certainly, I'm not saying any of you do that ... but I recall a situation where I lost a sale because I felt a need to be right. Sometimes being right doesn't get you the results you want. Sometimes keeping quiet and listening is the better way to go.
When I use to sell clothing in a department store, a customer told me a story about a fashion designer I knew was incorrect ... I blurted out, "That is not true. (designer name) did not design the (brand name) golf sportswear. The guy I was waiting on and the guy I made wrong (in front of his female companion) may not have had his facts right, but he sure knew one thing for certain ... there was no way he was going to give me the sale after I had argued with him about something that was actually irrelevant to the sportswear I was selling him at the time. It wasn't even the same brand he was interested in buying. He left the store, fairly abruptly, mumbling some excuse about being late ... and I lost a sale of hundreds of dollars--just because I felt the need to be right. I didn't connect with the customer, I competed with the customer ... and on something that was meaningless to making the sale. I should have bit my tongue and focused on the golf shirts and shorts I was persuading the golfer guy to purchase. I should have joined his team mentally ... and emotionally. I should have let him be the hero. That would have made me the sales pro!
If you have stories to share about selliing you think we all could learn from ... please do comment. I love hearing from you (yes, you!) and I sure think others do, too!
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About Susan Julien-Willson
I enjoy attending writing/marketing/advertising seminars and conferences for the inspiration and motivation they provide and I also love participating in a monthly writing group and a book club. On weekends, I am frequently found in the poetry/fiction/business/music sections of Schuler Books, my fave local bookstore, or reading magazines and sipping coffee in their café. You can also look for me on weekends at my family cottage in the summer or movie theaters or the mall in the winter. Evenings and weekends, you might spot me out walking when the weather is warm and sunny, or at the Alticor fitness center a few times a week. I love clothes and jewelry as an expression of my personal style. Because I tend to spend most of my time working, working out, or writing poetry, I don?t do the extent of volunteer work I?d like to, but I have a long list of favorite charities I support, including Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Easter Seals, American Cancer Society, Hospice of Michigan, Gilda's Club, and Habitat for Humanity.