Don’t Act Like a Seller, Think Like a Buyer
Chapter 1: The Eight Laws of Sales Intent
Anyone who says money doesn’t matter doesn’t have a dime. – T. Harv Eker
I would like to emphasize that,
in sales,
intention determines everything.
By using the word intention,
I mean purpose.
Your intention is your state of mind at the beginning of an action
– you force your mind to focus on a particular goal.
Broadly, an intention is a plan to do something,
or a series of actions that you plan to do.
If intention is your state of mind
when you are performing an action,
then what is your intention
when you are talking to a customer
or a potential customer?
The simple answer to this question has a huge impact
on your sales success.
So when you think about intent,
ask yourself two things:
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– What is my purpose?
And,
– What do I plan to do?
Consultant Solana Beach
and author Brian Tracy once said,
“The first thing you should bring to your mind is purpose.
Customers will respond to the energy
and enthusiasm generated
by that sense of purpose.”
Simply put,
if my intention
or purpose is to sell to you,
I am a self-made man.
If my intention is to teach you,
figure out what you want
and help you get it,
then I’m for-others.
When you sell based on the definition of selling
in a way that cares about others,
your behavior will be to understand the situation
before making an offer
or introduction.
You tend to be more prepared in your conversations
with your customers,
and make sure you understand
and ask questions about them,
their business,
your competitors,
their business competitor’s
before starting to suggest
why and how your products
and services are the best fit.
Right intention opens the mind,
wrong intention closes it.
If you approach a situation with the wrong intention,
it will be “revealed” immediately.
People are used to the “only know” salesperson model,
or the urge to sell goods with increasing frequency.
So buyers will be willing to ignore
or stay away
when they see signs of a rigid selling method.
If you approach a situation with pure intention,
even though it may not be easy to convey
that intention succinctly at first,
the outcome will not be the same.
For customers, to understand
and feel the seller’s good intentions,
they must listen,
ask questions,
and evaluate how the seller approaches them,
approaching their situation.
Customers are more likely
to engage in conversation with you
and have meaningful conversations
once they sense your intentions are pure.
To be a good salesperson,
I think every day you should learn
and act on the Eight Laws of Sales Intent:
1. I intend to create empathy,
to see things clearly from the customer’s point of view.
2. I intend to focus on the customer,
not on myself.
3. I intend to find people who really want what I am offering.
4. I intend to present myself as different,
unique,
and professional.
5. I intend to master the knowledge necessary
to be considered an expert in my field.
6. I intend to prepare for visits,
not only because it is important to me,
but also because it is important to customers
and potential customers.
7. I intend to use words
as well as find words that are appropriate
for the client and persuasive.
8. I intend to value what comes from within,
because I am aware that I am responsible
for all the consequences of my actions.
“Attentive listening to others lets them know that
you love them and builds trust,
the foundation of a loving relationship.”— Brian Tracy
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Let’s see what these rules mean:
I HAVE INTENTION TO CREATE US SYMPATHY
I aspire to be the for-others type.
I started to understand this
when I was a regional sales supervisor in Birmingham, Alabama.
I quickly learned that success means being able to recognize
and understand the feelings
or difficulties of others.
Empathetic salespeople try
to put themselves in their customers’ shoes.
If possible,
they want to understand the client’s problems,
challenges,
and deep-seated stresses.
Research on interpersonal relationships has shown that empathy
is one of the most important requirements
for building positive,
constructive relationships,
both with individuals
as well as with others with business.
This is a trendy point of view.
Recently, Business Week magazine reported on the change happening at Altera,
a chip maker in San Jose, California.
By the late 1990s, one of its salesmen,
Mike Dionne,
had acquired 25 clients,
but when the bubble economy burst in 2000,
the magazine wrote,
“Dionne sales fell and gone very fast,
no sweet words can convince customers
to come to him anymore.
He talks too much,
but only the wrong things.
The market has changed,
but he hasn’t.”
Altera’s CEO,
John P. Daane,
spent $11 million on rumor-making training emotions,
to help employees like Dionne
as well as the entire sales team identify a customer’s condition,
emotions,
and motivations.
“We are trying to learn
and develop a better relationship with our customers,”
he said.
We are still in the early stages of using empathy with our customers.”
About 10 percent of sales reps find coaching too unfamiliar,
so they drop out instead of continuing.
“People don’t want to see life exactly
the way their customers see it,”
says a consultant for Altera.
They just want to sell their stuff.”
So don’t think applying this rule is easy.
But Altera’s employee Mike Dionne attended the training.
After that incident,
he changed the way he did business,
and was able to see the world
from the customer’s point of view.
Now, he only has seven customers left,
but it took more time to make a successful sale,
mainly because he took the time
to listen to the customer more.
Recently, for the first time,
Dionne met a director at a medical company based in Massachusetts.
He repeated what he had said earlier
to this potential customer over the phone:
Altera was looking at investing in the medical field.
The magazine reported:
“For 90 minutes,
Dionne just sat quietly listening
to this prospect describe the type of technology
he was planning to buy
and the possible obstacles.
Dionne never said that Altera wanted to sell him the chips. ‘
You could say he was very energetic,’ Dionne said.
‘He sat back in his chair
and spoke very comfortably.’ ”
Although Dionne did not mention doing business
with this prospect,
CEO Daane said that he was pleased
with that approach and believed
– based on Altera’s very strong financial position
– seeing things from the customer’s point of view will eventually pay off.
One of the ways to see the world
from the customer’s point of view is
to spend time observing how their business works.
When I was in Birmingham,
I required each of my sales representatives
to work in a client’s office
at least one session per quarter.
We would ask clients (usually less known clients) if we could volunteer
to do a session in their office.
We told them it was a requirement
to give our sales reps a chance
to learn and grow (it really is),
and we’d be happy to do whatever the customer wanted
and requested goods.
Our common goal is to see what life is like
from the side of our clients.
My salesperson answered the phone,
organized the files,
cleaned the warehouse,
and in one office,
my sales rep even spent half a day adding toilet paper
to the toilet box.
The results were astonishing.
My salespeople began
to realize that 10 to 15 minutes
in that office were just short hours,
but enough for them to realize
that their customers each have a hard job,
and everyone is important.
Another thing is that in most cases
we have improved our relationship with that office.
In return for allowing our employees
to work in their world,
we invite them to lunch.
From there, what our employees learn about our customers
and their perspectives is extremely valuable.
We did this frequently during my time
as sales manager in this region,
and I believe it played a key role
in making us one of the top sales regions
the highest annual rate in the country,
for eight consecutive years.
Shari Kulkis, Sales Manager, HCV Division,
Roche Laboratories,
is an empathetic person.
She not only spoke to the pharmacists she needed,
but also to everyone in their office,
because she knew that everyone was important.
She noticed the magazines in the office,
the pictures on the wall.
When Sari is invited into the doctors’ private practice,
she notices what they like and what they collect.
“They show up on the shelves,” she said.
Then you just need to ask the question.
Like, what do you like to do on weekends?”
This behavior helped her not only sell the company’s products
but also get to know her customers.
The more she knows about her customers,
their concerns and problems,
the more it will make them understand
that she cares about their problems,
and the easier it will be for them to buy from her.
Her intention is not only to build relationships
with decision makers,
but with everyone.
This has allowed her
to learn useful facts about the offices she visits
—things almost all other salespeople don’t know.
That can only happen
when you always try to see life
from someone else’s point of view.
“Life is for service.” – Fred Rogers
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I HAVE INTENTION TO CUSTOMER, NOT ON MYSELF
Excellent salespeople are clear about their intentions.
Before picking up the phone
or walking into an office,
their intention is to do what’s best for the customer.
They focus on the customer,
not on themselves or their product.
Sales people (or marketing) tend to determine in advance
that potential customers will be the best candidates for their product;
Even unannounced visits are not random.
When we assume that potential customers need what we sell,
we often fail to properly investigate their problems or concerns.
We simply offer up all the goods we have
without even bothering
to find out if they are right for them.
As a result,
salespeople showcase more than they need to,
and take the sales conversation too far away
from the customer focus.
The actions of the salesmen were not much different
from those of the doctors.
Good doctors can never claim to know a patient’s condition
without a thorough examination and understanding
of the patient’s symptoms and vital signs.
Only after knowing the condition
(by listening to the patient) can they choose the appropriate treatment.
Too often, salespeople skip the “diagnostic” stage
and go straight to action,
or “prescribing”
—which is essentially about achieving
a desired result immediately.
If you sell to a customer
without trying to understand their condition,
it’s a haphazard sales process.
Sometimes, salespeople have the habit of assuming
that a customer’s needs
and preferences are roughly the same as their own.
A friend of mine named Anthony Yim,
who specializes in selling mobile phones,
is considered to have no understanding of the prospect’s situation.
One day, Anthony’s boss told him to visit a Japanese bank
– a potential customer in New York City.
Anthony has no relationship
with this bank or its employees,
nor has he visited them before.
His company heard that the bank’s contract
for telecommunications services was about to be renewed.
Anthony told me,
“I visited them
because we heard they were going to contract with another supplier.
It’s really a battle of wits to win back sales.”
His intention was to sell something,
not to understand the condition
and needs of the bank.
At the bank,
Anthony meets two employees who are extremely hostile.
He said,
“At best, they would just acknowledge that I was in the room.
Worst of all,
they kept asking me,
‘What can you do for us?
Why should we think of you?’
They’re nasty,
and I don’t like them at all.”
While Anthony is always welcoming to some customers,
he is indifferent to some potential
but less demanding customers.
There’s really no point in going over to those guys,
he told himself,
and hear the insults.
The bank had a large contract
with another competitor
and a small contract with another small player,
and they seemed satisfied with both.
So Anthony wondered,
what am I doing here to let them treat me like this?
But in fact the bank’s contract was about to expire;
and the bankers Anthony met sent him a three-page solicitation letter.
He eventually followed suit,
and sent them a proposal.
“It never occurred to me to try
to build relationships,
trying to figure out what was going on
– trying to get to know these bankers personally
– trying to do the right thing,”
he says something more.
My attitude is this:
I just follow my boss’s orders and try to sell something.
To see what happens.
Just throw the javelin and hope it hits the mark.”
After submitting the proposal,
Anthony met with them a second time,
and this time even more annoyed than the first.
“When I got back to the office,
I could barely control myself anymore.
I wanted to kick everything,
but instead,
I told four or five people how bad the situation was.
Later that afternoon,
I received a text from the bank saying:
‘We have some new requirements.’
I looked at the fax and saw there were six
or seven things they needed that we couldn’t do.
Frustrated by this,
I decided to ignore the request.
Ignore them. I know that’s unprofessional,
but I think it’s necessary.
Just let them go.
I sent them an offer already.
If they send me an order,
I’ll do a report, and that’s all…
I haven’t done anything
to involve these people in any productive dialogue.”
No wonder the bank didn’t send the order,
and Anthony didn’t pay any attention to it either.
About four months later,
a colleague of Anthony’s was at a trade show
when one of the two bankers greeted him.
Recognize your nameplate with your unit,
The banker asked,
“What’s wrong with you guys?
We are required to do business with you.
But you did not come back.”
Recalling, Anthony realized that,
in the first place,
he did not approach the bank with pure intentions.
At first, he was just trying to sell something.
And during the meeting,
he defended himself against the hostile attitudes of his clients.
He only thinks of himself.
“I should have done something to defuse
and mitigate that animosity,
so that there could be more time for discussion.
I didn’t want to have a dialogue
because they were too aggressive.
But now I think that they are so aggressive just
because they want to protect themselves.
At the time,
I had the feeling
that they were negotiating for a better price,
and if they didn’t,
they would come back to us anyway.
Things would have been better
if they had told me what they really wanted.”
If Anthony wanted to think about the customer,
he would have to try to “diagnose” the bank’s problems
before offering his company’s solution.
No matter how rude the bankers were,
Anthony should have convinced them
that he was more interested in helping
with their problems than in needing an order,
which could reduce the cost to go the collision.
And maybe you already have an order.
“We see our customers as invited guests to a party,
and we are the hosts.
It’s our job to make the customer experience a little bit better.” – Jeff Bezos
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I INTENTION TO FIND PEOPLE WHO REALLY WANT WHAT I’M OFFER
This seems all too obvious.
Why waste your (or someone else’s) time
when people don’t need the products you’re selling?
Businesses and salespeople are always working hard
to identify the most potential customers
for their products and services.
Nowadays, new software
and online services help small companies find sales channels.
Online social networking services such as LinkedIn,
Jigsaw, Spoke,
and iProfile can help you define relationships
through mutual acquaintance.
While these tools can be useful,
there are still problems:
you can’t tell if your customers really need
what you’re selling until you talk to them
(and neither do they).
In fact, they probably don’t need what you’re selling,
even if they appear to be potential customers on the surface.
hey may want what you’re selling,
but aren’t eager enough to decide right away,
or take the time to listen to your offer.
Maybe they like it,
but because they’re nearing the end of a budget period,
or because the CEO just made a budget cut,
or maybe because their credit card has reached its limit.
They may want your product;
they need it without knowing it.
(That’s why you’re here!)
Potential customers have plenty of reasons not to buy right now.
And so, it took Linda Mullen six years
to attract a potential customer for the company.
Ms. Linda is the president of Altus Inc,
and the owner of a clothing agency
and consultant for Doncaster,
a chain that sells women’s clothing directly.
Costume consultants throughout the United States market Doncaster products.
The company delivers goods
– gowns,
jackets,
dresses,
pants,
coats,
accessories,
and more
– to consultants’ homes.
Then the consultants will arrange appointments for customers
to come see the clothes.
Linda organizes six product launches,
ach lasting two weeks,
at multiple locations in her home town of Philadelphia;
and now she is hosting other shows in San Francisco,
San Diego, and Washington D.C.
“Ninety-nine percent of the women I work with are skilled,”
says Linda.
“Most of them are lawyers,
founding members of companies,
business owners or are at the corporate leadership level.
It took me six years to get a woman
—the head of the legal department of a large law firm
—into a product launch program.
A colleague introduced her to me,
and I have been calling her regularly for six years.
I sent her many documents and letters,
called to visit her,
but nothing happened.
She finally came to see the show on a Wednesday night.
Obviously, she belongs to the type A person, ie
those who always have a tight time.
We browsed the showroom together,
and within 45 minutes she had placed an order for $6,000.
I could not write in time.
I handed her a glass of wine
while I continued to write the order
so she could leave immediately.
After the closing ceremony,
I started editing immediately.
Then I went to Grandma’s house and started working,
all in about half an hour.
She tried on everything,
I pinned it,
took the garment to the tailor,
and shipped it back.
She couldn’t believe the service could be so good
and was very satisfied.
At the end of the season the customer came back again,
and I wrote the order without her presence,
because she didn’t have time to wait.
We met for 35 minutes
and she spent $800 in just one minute.
To speak
It’s not enough for her to be an enthusiastic customer.
I admired her and she praised me.
I think she sent me more referrals than any other client,
and she continues to do so today.”
Linda’s intention
– to find people who really need what she is selling
(personalized service,
save time,
get fashion ideas from fashion experts…)
– has helped her to grow.
She developed strong relationships
with potential clients as well as existing clients,
because they knew she wasn’t just about selling.
She is aiming for a fit that clients welcome,
and they are happy to recommend her to others they know.
“Choose to deliver amazing service to your customers.
You’ll stand out because they don’t get it anywhere else.” – Kevin Stirtz
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I INTENTION TO BE PROFESSIONAL
How do your customers feel about you?
Are you among the ordinary salespeople
or are you really different?
In a perfect world,
customers view excellent salespeople
as unique “resources”;
So, the question is:
“In the mind of the customer,
how do you want to be seen as different
or valuable compared to the competition?”
It’s too easy to be like everyone else
– do what everyone else is doing.
Your intentions will be clear and you will only be able to sell
to a relatively small percentage of potential customers
that you can easily convince.
But if you want to be seen differently,
then you have to be different.
Believe me,
the less you care about selling,
the more you can sell.
Your intentions are long-term,
not short-term.
It’s (usually) not about making an immediate sale,
but about building an effective relationship
or partnership with a company,
potential customer,
or current customer,
because you know that Loyal customers are like an annual allowance.
Your goal should not be a sales visit,
but a conversation about the product,
which will eventually lead to a sale if you deserve it.
Only after you’ve heard and understood
what your prospects are trying to achieve (or think you’ll achieve),
can the sales process return to a good hypothesis
with the premise that you think makes sense in this situation.
Take a look at Jack Martin.
When Jack graduated from college in 1969,
he wanted to be a financial planner.
He attended many harsh training courses organized by the company,
where he was taught how to make phone calls
to people to sell shares.
In the last week of training,
he made a big discovery.
This makes no sense,
he thought.
I’m only twenty-three and people force me to call people,
especially rich people I don’t even know,
and tell them to give me money.
I look like a fool.”
He told his superiors that he would not do that.
His boss asked,
“Hey, what are you going to do?”
Jack replied,
“I will go to the client in person.”
“Hey Jack, you can’t do that.
They won’t let you see him.”
Jack said:
“I don’t need to know;
I’ll try because it’s better than just calling someone you don’t know.”
Jack headed toward downtown Chicago
and went door-to-door knocking.
For the first two weeks,
no one wanted to talk to him.
Finally, he tried to meet the CEO of one of the eight largest accounting firms
in the country.
Jack said to the receptionist,
“I’m here to ask to see the General Manager.”
The receptionist asked him if he had an appointment,
and he honestly said no.
She asked, “What do you want to meet about?”
And Jack replied, “It’s personal.”
Jack told me that,
within five minutes,
he sat in the CEO’s office,
introduced himself
and the securities company he was working for.
Then he said:
“I’ve found that people like you usually don’t want to invest with brokers
or financial advisors
unless you get to see them in person.
So I thought I should come here to introduce myself
and learn a little about you.
Can you introduce yourself a little bit?”
Jack said that the CEO talked to him for an hour,
and it was mostly about his life.
At the end of the session,
he looked at his watch and said,
“Oh my, Jack, I have to go now.
Give me your business card;
I’ll call you later.”
Two weeks later, the CEO called Jack
and ordered $5 million in bonds.
I asked Jack how much commission he got
for selling the $5 million bond.
And the commission was $95,000 – in 1969,
that’s not a small amount for a 23-year-old guy.
Jack Martin quit his job at the age of 49,
the achievement is not only the contracts
he has received from that company,
because many other senior executives have also become his clients.
Why are these senior managers willing to invest with Jack?
Because Jack made the difference.
The product you are selling is similar to that of financial advisors
Other young key is selling.
Jack’s story is a prime example of the point that
when customers see any product
as another product,
the salesperson must make a difference in their eyes.
“If you make a sale,
you can make a living.
If you make an investment of time and good service in a customer,
you can make a fortune.” – Jim Rohn
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I INTENDED TO HAVE KNOWLEDGE TO BE CONSIDERED AS A PROFESSIONAL IN MY FIELD
I will talk about “knowledge” in more detail in Chapter 3,
so here I just want to say:
any salesperson who has taken the time
to master the knowledge needed
to become an expert in their field,
that person will be considered truly excellent.
Therefore, whether
or not customers fully agree with the recommendations,
they still consider these sellers as trusted advisors.
When you master all the core knowledge of the job,
you will demonstrate your competence in front
of customers and potential customers,
because deep knowledge will build you confidence
to become a good sales.
Many companies (and sellers) define knowledge
as just information about their products
and applications,
but in reality it’s much more than that.
Along with product and service knowledge,
you need to master the following:
° Competitor or premise/assumption of competition.
° Customers/potential customers
and their problems and challenges.
° Know yourself and how your communication
and personality can affect others.
What I’m talking about here is not simply having good information.
Good information is just an input.
You must know more about the features
and benefits of the product you make.
You should know how the product can be applied in any situation
and meet the needs of the potential customer.
You also need to know the problems
and challenges your customers face.
These insights will allow you to see
what you’re offering with a holistic view.
When you learn to think
with the big picture rather than on narrow situations,
you can communicate with your customers on many fronts,
as well as on many levels of your business not merely at the product level
(which other sellers are often interested in).
And you will be seen as someone who can provide solutions,
or as a valuable consultant.
“The most important adage and the only adage is,
the customer comes first,
whatever the business,
the customer comes first.” – Kerry Stokes
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I INTENTION TO PREPARE FOR EVERY VISIT
This Law of Sales Intent is particularly important
because it not only stands alone
but is an integral part of all Laws of Sales Intent.
As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter,
you must prepare for each sales contact
with the right intention or goal.
Now is the time to ask yourself,
“Why should I visit this client?”
Not for small talk.
Nor is it for making friends.
It’s a planned conversation to sell more to customers
or potential customers who really want to buy what you have,
because the product is important to them.
If your product represents a reasonable,
even valuable,
benefit to a potential customer
or their customer,
you should show pride and enthusiasm in your presentation.
However, that alone is not enough
to guarantee your potential customers will buy.
Begin your preparation
for this interaction by quietly defining your purpose.
Say to yourself,
“I’m going there to diagnose, not prescribe.
I’m going there to join a conversation.
We’re not going there to sell (although this can happen).
We’re going there to find out what the customer is in need of,
and get them thinking.”
Recording and writing down questions can help you find the information
you need to decide what is right for you.
Adequate preparation is a requirement for success.
This is not easy to do in the early days,
but if done well and becomes a habit,
the results will be unbelievable.
The valuable premise you’re after is an important factor.
If you prepare a valid premise,
by simply and regularly changing your mind,
you can find a place for your product
with more potential customers.
These ideas won’t work if your product
or service isn’t good,
because there’s a deep gap
between what you’re saying,
what you’re saying,
and the product you’re selling.
You need to have a product
or service with a reasonable
and valuable proposition,
or with some real uniqueness in the market.
If you do,
you can find people who need
or want them
– if you focus on them,
not on you.
When you’re better prepared,
you’ll find that with just a few customer interactions
you can generate more discussions
that can potentially lead to successful deals.
“If you just communicate, you can get by.
But if you communicate skillfully,
you can work miracles.” – Jim Rohn
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I INTENDED TO USE THE RIGHT LANGUAGE
Your ability to facilitate exchanges,
or to sell a product (or service,
service) is directly related
to how you can stimulate thought in others.
To do that,
you should use words that resonate with your customers
or potential customers
without offending them.
Words are very important!
The ability to create a safe and low-pressure environment
with words that blend rationality
and emotion will determine sales success.
Sometimes there are salespeople who,
despite making great presentations and meetings,
don’t get their message across.
They believe that reasoning alone is enough
to be impeccable.
Based on what they know,
what they have read,
what they have researched on the website
or financial statements,
and what they have learned from others,
they believe their client is a customer
by ideal product.
Why don’t they want to save money?
Why don’t they want a more reliable system?
Why don’t they want better technology?
These salespeople gave presentations
and came up with a theory
and logic that made perfect sense for the customers
– but the prospect still didn’t buy.
Remember, potential customers often have
a negative bias against salespeople.
One of the reasons these customers don’t buy is
because the salespeople’s language isn’t persuasive.
The word salespeople use suggests that this is an attempt
to sell the customer something they don’t need…
or don’t need right now…
or don’t really need to buy at that price.
As you prepare,
think about using words
and stories that can make customers think differently about you
and your product.
So plan to ask valuable suggestions
and questions.
Your intention is to use language that creates mutual understanding.
Sometimes, during the discussion,
you can come up with other solutions,
from a different point of view,
to a certain situation.
Once, when I was a pharmacist,
a doctor told me,
“I gave five patients your medicine… and four died.”
It’s not a good start to visiting clients.
I said, “Let me ask you this:
when trying to figure out what medicine could be given
to these people,
how many of them do you think will die?”
“I think they’re all going to die.”
“Then I don’t think it’s a fake drug.”
At first, I didn’t try to defend my product.
I’m not saying why he’s wrong,
because if he did,
the story would be over.
Through my question,
I made him think.
I promptly brought the doctor back
to what he was thinking about my product,
and then I let him figure it out for himself.
I help him re-imagine making those decisions
and recall the thought processes at those times
– which turned the tide.
As the doctor reviewed the reference points,
he concluded for himself that my medicine was a life-saver,
not a problem drug.
What if the doctor said,
“I don’t think a single person is going to die?”
Again, I’m not going to defend my product.
In fact, that reaction would raise questions about the quality of the drug,
and I would try to help that
doctor get our product back on the market.
This happened in the pharmaceutical industry.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drugs,
and it was only later that doctors learned they had a problem.
If our drugs were like that,
my personal reputation would force me
to at least investigate further
to see if there really was a problem,
or because the doctor’s experience was unusual.
If the drug needs to be taken off the market,
I will work to do so.
By choosing my words carefully
and making sure my intentions were
to win sympathy in that particular situation,
I was able to understand the doctor’s position on our medication
and encouraged him to Think in terms of success,
not failure.
Customers need us to use our words effectively
and bring our ideas to life.
If we don’t bring ideas to life with effective words,
our clients won’t be able to verify our hypotheses,
no matter how solid they may be.
“Our greatest asset is the customer!
Treat each customer as if they are the only one!” – Laurice Leitao
***************
I HAVE AN INTENTION TO MY INTERNAL POWER
People often blame circumstances.
I don’t believe in the situation.
The successful people in this world are those who create
and find the situation they want;
and if they can’t find them, they create them.
– George Bernard Shaw
Those who value their inner strength feel the need
to take responsibility for the consequences of their actions;
They often believe that it is they,
not fate,
or the leader of the company,
or any other person
other decide their own fate.
In contrast,
people who value external factors often view the situation
or environment as important to what happens to them,
rather than seeing it as something they did or didn’t do.
They tend to see success as determined by luck,
rather than their own efforts,
and they prefer to see themselves
as the victim of a predetermined situation.
Gerrard Macintosh,
through his research,
concluded that:
“People with high self-esteem,
people who value their inner strength
and have great empathy tend
to build a precedent based on a lot of time,
and that is why they tend to define goals
and build lasting relationships.”
By using the phrase “time-based trajectory,”
Macintosh meant that some salespeople only set short-term goals
(they govern their behavior),
while others know define long-term goals.
People with a more long-term view often see short-term goals
as the “foundation” for long-term goals.
This is important because salespeople
with a short-term perspective tend
to be more impatient in negotiation and persuasion,
and are more inclined
to try to close a sale on the first visit.
Salespeople who take the long-term view often look
to the past and the future,
and then, as Macintosh put it,
“apply a sales approach based on genuine collaboration/solution.”
And it’s great that studies show that:
sales behavior based on relationship building
will both enhance relationship quality
and increase customer loyalty to the company.
When you approach your business in a self-centered way,
you know that success depends on only one factor – you!
You are aware that your intentions determine everything,
and your intentions guide your actions.
You prepare differently
and introduce the discussion differently.
You create more visibility
when you talk openly with people,
because you choose words that force them
to listen to you differently.
Your actions, in turn,
will also speak to your intentions loud and clear.
See a typical example below.
Long ago, McNeil Consumer Products (Johnson & Johnson) took emergency action
when seven people mysteriously died
after taking the drug Extra-Strength Tylenol.
Immediately, they withdrew 31 million vials of Tylenol – all Tylenol drugs,
not just Extra-Strength
– from pharmacies and supermarkets.
No one will ever forget how this company behaved
in line with its values:
putting pure intentions above all else.
That intention has led Johnson & Johnson
to do the right things,
and intention is vitally important to each of us
to do the right things in sales,
especially in making good impressions in the marketplace
with shoppers’ minds.
But there is one more element of thinking that we will need to discuss.
The final element to having the right mindset in sales is knowing that:
to impress customers,
you need to be able to communicate excellently,
must have the solid knowledge of a professional expertise,
and build good business relationships.
Then let’s talk about the importance of knowledge,
the ability to communicate and build relationships.
Money is extremely important in the areas where it works,
and conversely it will play no role in the areas where it does not. – T. Harv Eker
