Sometimes salespeople just piss me off.
Have you ever felt that way?
I accepted a phone call from a telemarketer on Monday. She went into her information dump on the phone. I listened politely, waiting for her to come up for air. I then explained that I was not interested in her product at this time and shared why. For me, this particular service was not important enough to me to warrant an outlay of cash. I explained to her why I wasn’t a fit at this time and thanked her for calling.
Then all hell broke loose. She urgently ignores my comments and pushes forward with her bulldozer full of …believe it or not…payment options.
I politely said, “Maam, you must not have heard me the first time.” By this time, I was still polite although admittedly not smiling. She kept pushing with more payment options, smaller fees, and better deals. If I held out long enough, I could probably get the service for practically nothing, and get a free set of ginsu knives thrown in.
Do salespeople like that honestly think that the more they dump or the harder they push, a prospect is going to miraculously change their mind and give them a credit card number?!
Sales is NOT: pushing something someone doesn’t want or need.
Sales is NOT: filling airtime with all your rhetoric about amazing features and benefits.
Sales is NOT: ignoring your prospect so that you can get through more of your presentation.
Sales is NOT: selling somebody something.
Sales is about problem-solving. It’s about asking questions. It’s about learning and listening for and uncovering a problem, frustration, or concern a prospective customer has. It’s about testing whether or not that problem is important enough to act upon. It’s about offering a solution and helping them buy that solution. It’s about honesty and authenticity.
Or it should be.
The problem is that most salespeople love to talk, especially about the features and benefits they are in love with. If you’ve ever been a customer and wished the sales person would just shut up, then you know what I’m talking about. The minute an amateur salesman assumes they understand a prospect’s “problems” and immediately start to solve them by demonstrating their know-how. This doesn’t accomplish much other than make the salesperson seem like an goof and provide the prospect with a bunch of unpaid consulting.
Bottom line; don’t present a solution until you’ve earned the right.
Never assume you know what the customers’ real issues are. You will gain greater trust with your prospect if you ask questions. Your prospects will love you for it.
With this particular aforementioned telemarketer, I suppose we both hung up happy. I got her off the phone, and she got her Think-It-Over.
What’s sad is that she probably thinks I really am.
Tags: Business, cold calling, courage, prospecting, Sales, salesperson, SuccessCategories: Business Development, Marketing, New Business, Sales, Success.
