If you are not liked in the sales professional, you will not eat, pay your bills or be able to buy new clothes, at least not with monies made from high commission checks. It may sound harsh but the reality is that in a world filled with competition, if your prospect does not like you, he or she will simply buy from someone else. Does this mean you must insincerely fake a friendship with everyone to whom you hope to sell your product or service? No. But it does mean that as you go from sales call to sales call, your efforts will be greatly aided by developing a personal relationship with your prospects.
The significance of relationships in selling can never be underestimated. Whether you are a network marketer selling to your friends or a corporate sales person selling to a buyer, it is important to note that nobody sells to a company. People sell to people and emotions automatically enter into these decisions. How the buyer feels about the seller is bound to have an affect on the sale. In all of your sales endeavors you should ensure that you are polite, kind and gracious, but there is more that you can do to build a relationship in which you have great influence.
Take the following example: John, very excited about his new network marketing venture, sees an opportunity to talk to someone about his business. The person sitting next to him on a short plane journey holds out his hand and introduces himself. When the unsuspecting stranger asks John, “what do you do?” he launches into a tirade about his great opportunity, hoping that he has found his next recruit.
As any network marketer will tell you, this approach rarely works. Though you may be extremely enthusiastic about your new venture, you will find that few share that response. And when you begin a conversation with a stranger by telling them all about your opportunity and how it can change their life, you rarely have an opportunity to tell them much else before you have completely lost them. Often people simply do not share your enthusiasm at this initial stage.
John’s approach needs to take into account the initially negative reaction that most people have to being “sold” on something. Yes, the person introducing himself represented the perfect opportunity for John to share his business venture but more time and effort would have to go into priming his prospect.
Action step: When talking with potential recruits, make sure that you are actually listening. If they give you details about their life, hopes, dreams, aspirations or money worries, concerns and issues, write them down afterwards and remember to ask about them later.
Instead of beginning his relationship with this prospect by talking about his venture, thereby assuring that if the man is not interested, John will get no further opportunity to talk to him, John should have begun the relationship the same way he would any other friendship. Asking about his prospect’s life, listening to his answers and remembering the details would have allowed John to come back to his prospect at a later time with a more personal approach tailored to present his opportunity as the solution to the man’s specific life problems and ambitions.
Creating and preserving friendships and associations in network marketing is often more important than the product or service itself. Every sale or recruit involves emotions and in all situations, you must consider the impact of your actions on the person you are dealing with. If you want to wield great influence, increase your effectiveness, or just enjoy the byproducts of creating great friendships while looking for recruits, make great efforts to develop good relationships with your prospects.
Alvin Day’s Sales Training and Self Improvement Advice have helped many sales professionals and success-seekers reach and exceed their goals. For more of Alvin Day’s FREE resources, visit http://www.AlvinDay4Free.com
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