TONGUE OF A GREAT SALESMAN

“It’s time!” You told yourself that morning when you were to buy your first car and the glee on your face couldn’t be wiped out even with bleach! “Today we become one!” you say to the portrait of your dream car that hangs on your bedroom wall. You have a look at the bucket list you’d hidden in your drawer…dream car…DONE!

You make your way to the showroom; your eyes see nothing but your dream car. You walk to the spot you had seen it parked a couple of months back. She’s new, shinny, she makes your heart race, you can swear by looking at her headlights she smiles at youJ You walk around her like a lioness would just before savoring on the fatty antelope she’d been eyeing for the last hour and now its on her plate!

The sales man then walks up to you. “Aaah…so you are back…” he says as he comes over to you. “Just give me a minute I finish up on this beauty I was testing on…”

“Sure”, you say as you watch him get into the driver seat of the car parked two rows behind yours. “WOW!”, is all you tell yourself as you have a look at the car he is getting into. You calmly ask, “Hey has this always been here?”

“No it is actually one of the newborns here two days old to be exact…Oh man what I would do to have her…I’d move out and live in it if I could just so that I could afford it”, he says.

“Oh yeah?” you ask affirmatively.

“In a heart beat! If I had her, I’d have no problem in the world! As in I’d donate my blood, sell my kidney and liver to have it! She is what road-trips and sunset drives were made for. The God’s must be smiling at the inventor of this for sure. I mean listen to her…” He turns on the vehicle. The roar of the engine just numbs your thoughts to nothing else but it sound. Its like heaven had opened its windows for a second for earthlings to hear what the angels sound like on a happy day singing.

“Oh my ghad!!!”, you whisper to yourself as you find your way to the co-driver seat. The scent of the new car from the inside, the feel of the interior leather, the dashboard, the navigators, the multi gear box, the inbuilt surround system….you are simply loosing your mind at this point!

“Lucky is the man who drives away with this car for his does happiness reside”, the salesman says sadly because he knows he doesn’t have a chance of walking away with it.

“Errrrrmmmm…could I have a test drive?” you ask trying to hid your anxiety.

“If you insist”, he tells you.

And with that curtains closes, he takes a bow, SALE CLOSED!

That day your dream car is not your dream car anymore. You drive home with a revised and probably improved dream car. Though it cost more, you are convinced it is for the better…I mean, happiness from this moment on resides with you right?

This is what many of us go through; we walk in knowing what we want but leave with what we are convinced we needed more. That is what I call the effect of the Tongue of a salesman.

Have you ever encountered a situation where the sales person who is pitching to you influences your buying decision so much that you actually buy what they are selling? I met a salesman who I believe if he told me buying a coffin for myself right now should be at the top of my priority list I would! I’d actually go to the extent of picking out the  colour and interior finishings J …the Tongue of a sales man.

Don’t you wish you could have such a tongue? Here are some lessons on how to be a great salespeople with the Tongue

Lesson 1: Build A Relationship

R.E.L.A.T.I.O.N.S.H.I.P. Small word yet it has such a deep meaning. A relationship is just not about knowing another person’s basic information like name, contacts etc and you proudly say that you know that person. To have a relationship of whichever kind both parties simply have to connect. The link that ties the two of you is what builds a relationship. However when selling, most people only have their sales targets in mind and not what level off connection they intend to have in order to win the prospective buyer over. Thus they tend to talk about my company, our product is this, its features are these…me me me ME! However if you took a connection perspective, sales people with the tongue try and find out who they are talking to, what problems they are facing, what their desires are and future plans…they simply engage in you you YOU conversation! By this, you are gaining an understanding of your customer and their way of thinking and this connection prepares you on what angle to engage from with your sales pitch…I mean not all size fits all right…

Lesson 2: Listen More, See More, Talk Less.

You only get to know what others need is you not only hear but listen to what they are saying. When you are hearing what your prospects are saying, you tend to generalize and make assumptions what they needs. On the contrary when you listen to them, you are paying attention to the details that are being conveyed to you. Thus by listening more and talking less you will get much further much faster when trying to persuade or influence your prospects.

Lesson 3: Be inquisitive

When great salespeople with the tongue want to find out their prospective’s or customer’s stand on their product or service offering, they make use of questions. And not just any questions. They ask only those that lead to them getting meaningful feedback. For instance, if you want to find out if a customer has ever tried your product, you don’t ask them, “Have you tried our new product?” This is because by asking them this they already jump into defense because it suggests that it’s a law they are breaking if they haven’t and it also leads to a closed ended answer such as a simple no or yes. However, if you instead ask them, “How did you find our new product when you tried it?”, you are already telling them that you hope and trust that they have tried it. Also their answer will be very open ended like, “In fact, I haven’t. Why is there something I am missing?” This will in turn lead into a dialogue in which you can also get to learn more about their needs, understand them better and build a relationship.

Lesson 4: Follow-up, Stand-out!

Being acquainted to a new prospect is not enough. This is because in the world of business, there are billions of salespeople selling trillions of products and services. Therefore in order to stand out from the crowd, you ought to continue what you have already begun. You have to follow up. Make the call, send the emails and schedule meetings, develop the relationship. It doesn’t necessarily have to be for business purposes, you can just call to find out how they are doing in their day to day lives, their interests…get to know them. By the time you do all this, you can bring up the proposal you had handed them or ask them how they find the product or service you sold to them. Eventually you can review together on what next step to take. Follow-up!

Lesson 5: See the future…Be Futuristic

Salesmen who are passionate about their career do not pitch for a one off sale so as to hit their day’s or month’s targets. Their end game is to pitch for future sales. Because realistically, not all prospects are today-and-now buyers, they always need time to think before buying and this is what is referred to as the buying behavior. So whoever they are trying to sell to, they do it to their best and hope that either they will have them buying even if its not today they will in the future or alternatively they will do viral marketing for them to their social and professional network…looking at the bigger picture.

Have a tasteful day :)