Trust and Respect

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bald Dog

By not exhibiting behaviours that are typical of salespeople.

No presentations, no brochures, no rapport-building, no "how are you today", no enthusiasm overdrive, no leaning forward, no objection handling, no asking for the sale, and no closing.

No one-way presentations but collaborative diagnosis and solution development

No brochures but paper and calculator to quantify problem

No rapport-building but cutting to the chase

No "how are you today" but cutting to the chase

No enthusiasm overdrive but a level-headed objective approach. Enthusiasm makes you emotion-driven.

No leaning forward but sitting naturally.

No objection-handling but accepting come what may. But I have a very strong qualification process for the meeting.

No asking for the sale but having the final word on whether or not I accept the prospect as a new client.

No closing but letting the prospect close herself and I decide whether or not to accept her as a new client.

This is an odd approach but it works for me rather nicely. I'm being treated as a peer not as a salesperson.
Thoughts?

Most of the above points will either create trust or (at worst) will not cause distrust.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpeedRacer

In one post you assert that prospective customers will trust and respect salespeople by default.

Not all of them. I certainly do. And I don't think I'm the only one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpeedRacer

Do you suggest that 87% of the salespeople involved in those sales diminished the trust defaulted by the Buyer through their own behaviours?

I think there are certain behaviours that send prospects' defences into overdrive.

One of those is the glibness of salespeople. They have an answer to everything.

Also...

The typical sales approach is closing the "sales gap" between buyer and seller to get closer to the sale.

My approach is opening the gap and letting prospect to close it. Then I open it again. That is, instead of getting closer to the sale, I walk away from the sale and let prospects decide whether or not they want to come after me.

And when I see hesitation on the prospect, I say...

"So we're going to conclude this meeting now, and it's been great meeting you. And maybe we'll have a chance to work together sometimes in the future. Or maybe not! Who knows? But right now you're not ready for what I have to offer your company. Maybe a year from now. Or five years from now you'll be ready. Or you may never be ready for the kind of value I have to offer.

No problem. You have 117 competitors in this town alone, and I think one of them will be happy to have me in his corner.

So, we'll probably meet again on the opposing ends of the commercial battlefield. Until then, best of luck."

Walking away from a deal is not a typical sales behaviour, and it pushes prospects off track.

It helps. And I'm not afraid of losing the sale. But, mind you, I'm an atrocious salesperson, although a damn good diagnostician.

And I can advance my credibility by talking straight, like telling the prospect, "I think you're talking out of your a.r.s.e, and this is my evidence for that." Crappy buyers get upset. Good buyers ask, "All right. Carry on!"

They don't get upset. I deliberately don't walk on eggshells, so they get the real me from the first second.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bald Dog

I think there are certain behaviours that send prospects' defences into overdrive.

One of those is the glibness of salespeople. They have an answer to everything.

Also...

The typical sales approach is closing the "sales gap" between buyer and seller to get closer to the sale.

My approach is opening the gap and letting prospect to close it. Then I open it again. That is, instead of getting closer to the sale, I walk away from the sale and let prospects decide whether or not they want to come after me.

And when I see hesitation on the prospect, I say...

"So we're going to conclude this meeting now, and it's been great meeting you. And maybe we'll have a chance to work together sometimes in the future. Or maybe not! Who knows? But right now you're not ready for what I have to offer your company. Maybe a year from now. Or five years from now you'll be ready. Or you may never be ready for the kind of value I have to offer.

No problem. You have 117 competitors in this town alone, and I think one of them will be happy to have me in his corner.

So, we'll probably meet again on the opposing ends of the commercial battlefield. Until then, best of luck."

Walking away from a deal is not a typical sales behaviour, and it pushes prospects off track.

It helps. And I'm not afraid of losing the sale. But, mind you, I'm an atrocious salesperson, although a damn good diagnostician.

And I can advance my credibility by talking straight, like telling the prospect, "I think you're talking out of your a.r.s.e, and this is my evidence for that." Crappy buyers get upset. Good buyers ask, "All right. Carry on!"

They don't get upset. I deliberately don't walk on eggshells, so they get the real me from the first second.

That is evidence of a high level of self-respect that most prospects respect without reservation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpeedRacer

MitchM, Bald Dog and anyone else who believes that prospective customers will trust and respect salespeople by default how do you maintain your belief in the light of this empirical data?

This is an excellent question SR.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpeedRacer

I wonder if the challenge you describe Jacques doesn't stem from miscommunication.

You provided two different meanings for the term "respect". The first was, "to regard another person as having value equal to other human beings." This makes sense to me in the context of Seller and Buyer interaction.

The second was, "to treat another person with the same consideration and high regard as other people that you esteem." This is not the same as the first definition and doesn't make sense in the context of Seller and Buyer interaction because it needs to be qualified. It's not probable that a Buyer will have the same high regard for salesman X, whom they know nothing about, as other people they might esteem such as an authority figure.

You also wrote that you thought the meaning of "Trust" was evident. Once again without qualification there is an enormous opportunity for miscommunication. Here are a few different definitions of "Trust" from different sources:

have confidence or faith in;
reliance: certainty based on past experience;
hope: expect and wish;

And to what degree of trust are we talking?

completely
substantially or generally
somewhat or slightly
rarely or not at all

What is evident to you may not be as evident to others. That is one of the challenges to clear communication.

Excellent pick up SR.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bald Dog

By not exhibiting behaviours that are typical of salespeople.

No presentations, no brochures, no rapport-building, no "how are you today", no enthusiasm overdrive, no leaning forward, no objection handling, no asking for the sale, and no closing.

No one-way presentations but collaborative diagnosis and solution development

No brochures but paper and calculator to quantify problem

No rapport-building but cutting to the chase

No "how are you today" but cutting to the chase

No enthusiasm overdrive but a level-headed objective approach. Enthusiasm makes you emotion-driven.

No leaning forward but sitting naturally.

No objection-handling but accepting come what may. But I have a very strong qualification process for the meeting.

No asking for the sale but having the final word on whether or not I accept the prospect as a new client.

No closing but letting the prospect close herself and I decide whether or not to accept her as a new client.

This is an odd approach but it works for me rather nicely. I'm being treated as a peer not as a salesperson.

Thoughts?

Although I agree with some of what you have said, the majority of it is a prescription for sales mediocrity.

1. Here's the first definition for "rapport" from dictionary.com:
"relation; connection, especially harmonious or sympathetic relation".

What is it about rapport that is bad? Maybe failed attempts at establishing rapport is bad, but "connection, expecially harmonious or sympathetic relation"? How can you suggest that these are things that a salesperson should not aspire to?

2. I just called a couple tire dealers to get prices on new tires for one of our cars. I got a price of $88 from one dealership. I called another and got a price of $104. I told this guy I'd call around and get some other prices (that was my objection). Luckily for both of us, this fellow decided to handle my objection rather than just walk away (as you would suggest he do, apparently). He asked if I had gotten other prices. I told him "yes". He asked what the price was, I told him "$88", and he offered to meet that price so I don't have to spend my time calling around to other dealers. I said "I'll do it" and he sold me the tires and I'm having them put on tomorrow.

Now this salesperson, in our brief encounter, opted to "handle my objection" (which you believe is evil) instead of walking away. If I was hiring a salesperson for my tire store, I would want this guy working for me instead of someone who thinks that handling objections is evil. He made an offer, his offer made sense, and I agreed to it. That's a win/win for him and for me and I'm a happy customer.

Don't even get me started on "asking for the sale!"

Skip Anderson

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skip Anderson

Although I agree with some of what you have said, the majority of it is a prescription for sales mediocrity.

Mediocrity? Maybe. I think just different approaches.

I've just realised, Skip.

Everything I've written down is suitable to my personality. It's neither right not wrong.

> and he offered to meet that price so I don't have to spend my time calling around to other dealers.

What this also shows what an atrocious salesperson I am, that is, that I would never "meet" anyone's price. I would probably say, "I'm afraid our tyres are not cut out for your purse. Wal-Mart is just around the corner. Good luck with your shopping."

And before he runs away, I would give him a special report entitled, "What smart drivers should know about tyres, but sellers of cheap tyres want to keep a secret."

And since I know how to write this kind of stuff, it will be read. And after handing out some of these reports, I step back and watch the stampede to the store to by our tyres.

Some people say selling is about convincing people. I prefer to deal with people who've already convinced themselves. Jacques calls it high probability selling. In my twisted way I do that too.

> Now this salesperson, in our brief encounter, opted to "handle my objection" (which you believe is evil) instead of walking away.

I think this is person-dependent. Some overcome objections, some walk. I prefer to walk, because people, without objections, are waiting for me with credit card waving.

One important point: 1% price drop takes 11.7% out of your profit margin. That's why I'm not in the business of "meeting" others' prices.

But I may be wrong.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bald Dog

Mediocrity? Maybe. I think just different approaches.

B.D., I don't think you can chalk this up to different approaches. Your post clearly states that you don't believe in handling objections. In my story, the salesperson did believe in handling objections, and did so, and ended up with a sale. Regardless of personal style, a salesperson who chooses to handle objections will sell more than the salesperson who chooses to not handle objections.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bald Dog

I've just realised, Skip. Everything I've written down is suitable to my personality. It's neither right not wrong.

I disagree, B.D. There is a right and wrong. You can tell your golf coach that it's not "suitable to your personality" to keep your left arm straight when you drive the ball, but if you don't, you're likely to have weaker drives than if you do (actually, I'm not a big golfer, but I think my methodology is sound!). The same is true in selling: if you do x, you'll sell more, and if you do y you won't sell as much. You have suggested that not handling objections is more comfortable to your personality, but that doesn't mean that it will result in better sales performance!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bald Dog

> and he offered to meet that price so I don't have to spend my time calling around to other dealers.

What this also shows what an atrocious salesperson I am, that is, that I would never "meet" anyone's price. I would probably say, "I'm afraid our tyres are not cut out for your purse. Wal-Mart is just around the corner. Good luck with your shopping."

Now, c'mon, b.d., don't change the topic, now! We're not talking about the validity of discounting as a sales strategy, we're debating whether "handling objections" will lead to higher sales or lower sales.

Of course, you could opt for your "WalMart" suggestion to your prospect, but you wouldn't have a sale. If you're saying you never discount your price, and that works for you, that's great.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bald Dog

And before he runs away, I would give him a special report entitled, "What smart drivers should know about tyres, but sellers of cheap tyres want to keep a secret."

No, b.d., you wouldn't do that, because you said you don't believe in handling objections, and what you suggest is a way to handle the objection. [/quote]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bald Dog

Some people say selling is about convincing people. I prefer to deal with people who've already convinced themselves.

Of course, we'd all prefer to do that! But in many industries, salespeople have to actually sell, instead of just take orders. Selling isn't evil or mean or unethical, and it's nothing to be afraid of, but a lot of salespeople are afraid of selling and end up leaving the sales industry as a result.

I know the drive through window at McDonalds is very good at dealing with people "who've already convinced themselves" to buy, though. But the people that work there aren't salespeople in my opinion.
[/quote]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skip Anderson

who wrote in very small part

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bald Dog

Some people say selling is about convincing people. I prefer to deal with people who've already convinced themselves.
--------------
Skip:
Of course, we'd all prefer to do that! But in many industries, salespeople have to actually sell, instead of just take orders. Selling isn't evil or mean or unethical, and it's nothing to be afraid of, but a lot of salespeople are afraid of selling and end up leaving the sales industry as a result.

I know the drive through window at McDonalds is very good at dealing with people "who've already convinced themselves" to buy, though. But the people that work there aren't salespeople in my opinion.

The salespeople who work in the tire store probably earn more than the people who work at McDonalds.

People who know how to find and do business with high probability prospects typically make a lot more than people who sell by persuading, convincing and manipulating prospects who are merely “interested” do. They make up a large majority of the top 1% of salespeople in 23 industries.

It is ridiculous to say that they "just take orders." They use sophisticated sales processes that achieve very high closing rates. I think Skip probably suspects that, but he can't resist trying to win arguments (and close sales) using such obvious Rhetoric.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JacquesWerth

It is ridiculous to say that they "just take orders." They use sophisticated sales processes that achieve very high closing rates.

This is a good point, Jacques. It's about generating high-probability prospects to start with.

If I ran that tyre store, I would probably put a sign on the wall: "Attention! This store caters only for savvy buyers who understand value and are not blinded by low price. Warning: The Rotweilers are trained to attack hagglers."

I've learnt a lot about sales from doctors when I was in biomedical engineering and before that when I was an embalmer.

Good doctors are not order takers, but they don't argue with tyre-kickers either. They do the diagnosis and then don't care what the patient decides to do. They are detached from the outcome, so they can be objective. And they don't offer discounts on brain surgery. And people respect them and patients make serious commitments to follow their recommendations.

Just a different approach.

Trust and Respect

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