New Sales Speak: The 9 Biggest Sales Presentation Mistakes & How to Avoid Them by Terri L. Sjodin

Author:Terri L. Sjodin
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

If You Don't Want to Be a Spy, Ask for Information

Eventually, someone is going to catch you making inquiries about matters they may perceive to be outside the course of normal business. And what happens if you get caught? Should this happen, simply tell him, "Mr. Jones, you are absolutely right. You caught me! I was doing my homework, but I promise you this: I will put as much energy and effort into maintaining your business as I have put into obtaining your business from the word `go.' I hope this is the kind of person you want working with you on your transactions." Do you think people are going to be upset when you come back with a response like this? Not at all, they want someone who is willing to hustle in order to get their business. This response works almost every time.

Finding out information about a customer or group of clients frequently requires only that you ask. Usually it takes just a couple of minutes. Before an appointment, I will call and say, "Ms. Jones, this is Terri Sjodin. I'm calling to follow up with you and confirm our appointment for three o'clock today. I'm trying to do some research so my presentation can meet your specific needs. May I ask you a few quick questions? They will take only about 10 minutes. If you help me, I can tailor my presentation to meet your specific requirements."

People usually agree and are even more interested in working with me because I am custom-tailoring my sales presentation to their individual circumstances. It often can even be another way to impress them with my service. The converse to this is to spend the first 10 minutes talking about something they already know. That is an unforgivable waste of your clients' time and very costly for you.

To customize your presentation for your clients, you must ask questions and also listen to what they say or what others say about them. You must become an active listener.

In Nido R. Qubein's book, How to Be a Great Communicator, he suggests the reason we pay little attention to developing our listening skills is that we take them for granted. To become better listeners we need to understand what listening is and to take a fresh look at this undervalued, but extremely important, sales activity.

Surely you know someone who is a particularly impressive listener. This person remembers things we say, asks insightful questions, and generally makes us feel good by leaving us with the impression of truly understandingand therefore caring about-who we are. Unfortunately, most of the time we don't live up to that standard-nor do our clients.

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