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Unfortunately,
when I first entered the sales profession, I was taught that the way to sell was
through manipulation, intimidation, and domination. Our training back then
stressed that the best way to get appointments was to stretch the truth about
the real purpose of our calls, that the only real way to sell was to pressure
our customers, and that selling was "only a numbers game." The old
game plan was to hit an area quickly, talk fast, and set people up for the
"power close." The Golden Rule took on a new twist, rephrased to say,
"Do unto others, then get out!" Sadly,
that once popular approach to sales is still taught by some trainers and
corporations today. Only a short time ago, one of the most popular
sales-training books was Selling Through Intimidation. High-pressure tactics,
trick closes, and speed-talking techniques continue as the foundation of far too
many sales training systems. Even today there are occasional releases of books
guaranteed to teach you how to "power sell" your way to success
through so-called hardball techniques. Companies
that trust their futures to those tired techniques will not survive in the
competitive and tightly niched markets of the 21st Century. Salespeople who
trust their careers to those simple and out-dated methods will languish right
along with the companies that espouse them. Salespeople and organizations who
trust their careers and business success to their personal credibility will
thrive. This
new idea also contrasts markedly with the old-school philosophy that sought out
people who had the personality for sales. A good personality for sales may well
produce short-range sales success, but today's demanding and busy customers are
unlikely to place their faith solely in a winning sales personality. A
reputation for honesty must be built on a level deeper than personality.
Long-range sales success will rely on the credibility one has as a person. More
salespeople than ever before now recognize that personal credibility is the most
vital ingredient for success in selling. Today's successful salesperson relies
not on making single sales nor on tricking customers into buying, but on a
multifaceted strategy of long-range repeat business and customer referrals,
grounded in a reputation as an honest and highly credible person. Credibility Unlocks The Door To Success Since
we know that most people get tense in crowds, it follows that crowded
marketplaces will also make buyers tense. The greatest personal challenge you
face today is overcoming the tension that exists in a highly crowded selling
environment. Behavioral
psychologists have a term known as territorial imperative. Most graphically
evident in lower animals, it is nonetheless true with humans: Virtually
every living creature marks out an area that he or she will defend against all
intruders. When that personal space is invalid, its owner examines the intruder
carefully to determine if it is friend or foe. Only when one trusts the intruder
will he or she relax. Without credibility, you will remain an untrusted
intruder. If
your credibility can transform this natural tension into trust, you will have a
greater chance to break through its resistance and close the sale. Failure to
establish credibility with your prospects will reduce you to merely another face
in the bustling crowds of salespeople they see daily. Your credibility is the
key to your prospects' view of you as an honorable person. Credibility Begins With High Self-Esteem
Often,
people with low credibility have no clue why their reputations suffer. They know
that deep down inside they are honest people, yet they fail to convey that
conviction to others. The reasons for that failure are usually based on the
nonverbal communications they send out to people around them. Communications
experts have made it common knowledge that more than 80 percent of the signals
we send to others are communicated nonverbally. That means that for every
statement you make, you send four nonverbal signals to your prospect. Every
contact you make with your prospects must be an action that tells them you are
trustworthy. Always assume that your every action is under scrutiny to see
whether you should be allowed into the prospect's personal space. See how much
sense this idea makes in light of my earlier affirmation: "People won't
long remember what you said, but they'll never forget how you made them
feel." Most of the signals that determine how you make people feel are in
that nonverbal 80 percent category. More
than any other single factor, the way you see yourself determines the way others
see you. Your self-image shapes everything you say and do. It shows up in the
way you dress, walk, talk, sit, laugh, and in what you do with your eyes and
hands. People watch all these signals when they decide whether to trust you and
believe what you say. Therefore,
a salesperson with low self-esteem will transmit his or her internal struggle to
prospects. The prospect senses that something is amiss and never trusts the
salesperson enough to open up his or her personal space. Therefore, the most
direct route to high credibility is through high self-esteem. |
