It doesn't matter if you're selling widgets, timeshares, mustard, tonsils, or your soul. It makes no difference if you sell in a store, door to door, or hanging upside-down under a bridge. No matter what your personal sales situation may be, if you're doing face-to-face sales and you really want to sell MORE, you will benefit from this advice.
I have sold the living piss out of everything from toilet seat-covers to Luxury yachts so I know what I'm talking about. Don't even question it. Just read and do. Here is a list of some keys to my success:
1) Look the part. You must know who you are selling to and the relationship between the buyer and the product. Then you must dress to fit. For example, used car salespeople should wear dark glasses, a gold chain, a button down shirt with the top three buttons undone, stonewashed jeans, boots, and a leather blazer. To borrow a line from the movie Anchorman.....Sixty percent of the time it works every time!! Another example; if you sell investments or annuities, wear a Big Bird costume. It almost never fails.
2) Talk the talk. While I would always encourage you to be yourself and be honest with the customer, sometimes it's nice to bend a little and be what they want you to be. This is especially true in the way you speak. If your customer seems to swear a lot, drop a couple of f-bombs for good measure. You'll gain respect. If your customer speaks with an accent, you should attempt to speak with the exact same accent. It will be a little uncomfortable at first, but you'll get used to it. Before you know it, your customer will be trying to figure out if they know you from "back home". Please please please, do not use words like "fiduciary" or "philanthropic" when selling a Popsicle to a fourth grader.
3) Walk the walk. Everyone feels sorry for someone who limps. Always act gimpy. Be consistent. Always favor the same leg and stay in character. You should hobble from the time you wake up until you go to bed....even in your own home. It must be convincing. You never know when a potential customer might be watching. You will also need a story about how this happened to you. I usually encourage people to use injury rather than disease, although this depends on what you are selling. Lawn-mower salespeople may say that their old lawnmower attacked them one day because it wasn't equipped with a certain safety feature....it just so happens that the model they sell DOES indeed have that safety feature. SOLD! If you are selling army surplus, it's a war injury. Flowers; killer bee attack...and so on. But, it would be acceptable to use diabetes as your story if you sell, let's say, blood-sugar testers.
I know these tips will probably hopefully and maybe help you sell your product to more people and create a sense of confidence in you that will stay with you long after your customers have gone elsewhere. Read them, memorize them, live them. Put your own spin on these tips and customize them for your industry. Send me your success stories or include them in your comments.
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