Most salespeople are wimps when they talk to prospects and customers, but not when they talk to other people. Why do they wimp out when they talk to prospects and customers? Why are they so afraid that talking straight to prospects will be deemed offensive? A lot of our trainees protest what they think is the "harsh" language of High Probability Selling. In a recent High Probability Selling training course, several participants protested the way we teach them to talk to their prospects and customers. "It seems to be abrupt, harsh, even rude," said one student. "I understand the theory of being so direct but, talking that way isn't really me," he said. Another student said, "I know it's beneficial for both the prospect and the salesperson to be straight with prospects. But, I think most prospects would be offended by that way of talking." However, when salespeople talk that way to people who are NOT prospects, then they describe it as speaking "directly, forthrightly and honestly." Here's what I told them. You have to give up on being the most courteous, most agreeable, and most accommodating salesperson on earth. That's not who you really are and that is not the kind of person whom the vast majority of prospects and customers trust and respect. Acting that way is a transparently phony. We know that the two most important buying decision factors are whether or not the prospect Trusts you and Respects you. You need to be authentic in order to be trusted, and you need to respect yourself before you will be respected. Most salespeople need to learn how to do that - effectively and gracefully - in order to become highly successful. |
