Forget About Being “Slick Willie”

Here’s a sample conversation that was sent to me by a real sales pro, Gene Wrasman.  Gene is going through my sales course and he offered these sales tips about how to avoid getting rejected.

Here’s Gene’s sales tips: As you introduce yourself to the prospect you can almost see the walls of protection go up.  Here’s how the conversation should go:

Gene: “Glad to meet you.  I’m not here to sell you anything today, do you have about two minutes?”

Prospect: “Two minutes, but that’s it.” (The wall stops going up between you and the prospect when you say you are not here to sell anything.)

Gene: “I found out a long time ago that most sales people have promised you they could do it cheaper, faster and better than whoever you are currently buying from.  Isn’t that right?”

Prospect:  “Exactly right.”

Gene: “And after you told them you are happy with who you are buying from, they left.  Then you threw away their card.  Does that sound about right?”

Prospect:  “Guilty as charged.”

Gene: “How could those sales people possibly make that claim if they haven’t asked what you are presently buying, what kind of equipment you have, if you are having any problems and what your needs are?”

Prospect:  “Well, I guess they couldn’t.”

You:  “When is a good time to survey your operation to see if you are actually getting the best program for your money?”

Prospect: “Hmmm… let me see.”

Gene:  “How about now?  Do you mind if I ask you a few questions and then come back with some information that will help you make the best decision?  The best decision may be to stay with what you are currently doing!”

Gene’s conclusion: It’s hard to get rejected if you’re asking questions and listening.

How many question marks are in the above conversation?

You really can’t SELL anybody anything. You can only help them make good decisions.  You can only help them solve their problems.  If you are getting rejected it’s because you’re too focused on trying to sell and not trying to be helpful.

Here’s how NOT to do it.

I recently had a furnace go out in one of my rental homes during an extremely cold spell.  There was no heat in the house except for a small electric heater.

I called a Heat & Air company.  The guy came out, took my furnace all apart and said I needed a new furnace.  It will cost about $4,500.  He wrote down some info, charged me $80 for the service call, said it would be a week before they could install it and left me with my furnace all apart.

I have people living in that house!  What could be so wrong with a furnace that I couldn’t get a temporary fix?

I called a retired Heat & Air expert I know and asked his advice.  He walked me through the entire process over the phone, said I didn’t need a new furnace and he didn’t even charge me anything.  I used to count on him for all my work before he retired.  He was the most honest and helpful Heat & Air expert I have ever known.  He was NEVER without a long list of clients.

I don’t know much about a furnace, but by the end of the weekend I thoroughly cleaned it, figured out what makes a furnace work and saved $4,500!  I will eventually need a new furnace, however, now I have a little time to shop around.  Maybe wait until spring when prices go down!

And that’s how you build a business.  You don’t go for the quick sale.  You go in with an attitude of how can I help you?  How can I solve your problem?

Let’s look at the immediate situation:

You have a house with people living in it and there is no heat.  Let’s make that our top priority.  Let’s see if we can at least get this furnace working and get some heat in here for these folks.

What’s the immediate problem your customer has? Forget about selling.  Forget about the big commission.  Forget about trying to be “Slick Willie” and go help them fix it!  You will never have to worry about being rejected because people will be calling YOU!

– Bob