Sell More - Disengage!

MitchM

It's not a contradiction - if you want to sell more you need to disengage. That was the advice given to me eleven years which I ignored for a while. Then, having fustrated myself many times I began contemplating that advice at the same time I began reading "High Probability Selling" and the two voices came together.

But what does it mean to disengage to sell more? What it doesn't mean is to disengage from the relationship that begins when someone says: I want that. That's where the most important engagment comes from in seeing if there's a mutual reason for doing business with trust and conditions of satisfaction being met on both sides. That's the work or "selling" part of selling.

The other part of selling begins with prospecting which is where my maxim comes to play - "sell more - disengage." What I was taught in the beginning that I came to value a few years later was this: Make an offer then disengage from the outcome and what the other person does. If the other person says NO leave it alone. BUT if the other person says: I want that! help that person get it.

The reason more is sold this way than in other ways is because it allows you to work only with high probability prospects toward high probability sales. Also, it frees up time to move on productivly toward he or she who "want's it."

AND disengaging produces highly personal and mutual emotional and rational responses: relaxation and trust, comfort and respect, self esteem and open ness. In other words, the act of disengagement elimates stress and mistrust, eliminates discomfort and disrespect, and eliminates low self esteem and closed mindedness.

There's a mini essay for a Sunday someone may have something to question or add or comment on or contrast.

MitchM

Thomas

For the salesperson or the prospect?

MitchM

Both, Thomas. It's mutual.

MitchM

Thomas

How is that possible? If a telemarketer calls me and I say no thanks and they say ok and hang up I don't trust or respect them any more than before they called. Is my response not typical?

MitchM

Use a comparison, Thomas

If a telemarketer calls me and I say no thanks and they say ok and hang up.

OR

If a telemarketer calls me and I say no thanks and he/she tries to keep it going to make a sale and it takes one or two more attempts to end the call.

Do you feel the same about both?

I'd say it's atypical to not feel better about the first call than the second and that "feeling better" has to do with immediate trust and respect.

MitchM

Thomas

Why would I trust or respect a telemarketer I don't know and have only talked with for a few seconds? Because the telemarketer didn't push for a sale after I said no this is suppose to produce mutual trust and respect? What does trust and respect mean to you?

MitchM

Trust and respect means many things to me, Thomas. One thing it means is when I say NO the other person lets it go and respects my NO. In that small telemarketing relationship I have some trust for that person who says" Okay. Bye! and hangs up. Of course that could change over time if I get more calls and that person starts trying to over come my NO or I say: Don't call again! and that person calls again.

So it's an immediate response and very simple, very direct, very clear to me.

What do mutual trust and respect mean to you, Thomas?

MitchM

Thomas

I started a thread about different meanings for trust and respect at Trust and Respect

I still don't understand why I would trust or respect a telemarketer I don't know and have only talked with for a few seconds because the telemarketer didn't push for a sale after I said no.

MitchM

Hi Thomas - I just saw your thread - I gotta post quick then get moving for a birthday dinner. I don't know why I feel the way I do in that situation and you don't.

I don't like people to push for a sale with me so there's that in my definition I extend to other people - we all do that with our definitions - extend back to the other person and our expectations of them.

When I say an empahtic NO I mean it and if someone says:But . . . but . . . but! and I say NO again and get another: But . . . but . . .! I disrespect and don't trust that person.

I disrespect that person for not respecting my NO and hanging up AND I don't trust that person's judgment who can't take a NO and only wants to make a sale for his/her quota.

I know what I want or don't want and if I'm not sure I'll say: okay, tell me a little more. That's fine. When I hear a little more and decide NO I say that! If the person hangs up I have trust and respect for that person still. If another come back comes back I begin to not have trust and respect for that person for the reasons I mentioned.
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"AND disengaging produces highly personal and mutual emotional and rational responses: relaxation and trust, comfort and respect, self esteem and open ness. In other words, the act of disengagement elimates stress and mistrust, eliminates discomfort and disrespect, and eliminates low self esteem and closed mindedness." - section from original post.

Not just telemarketing but any kind of prospecting is better when the kind of trust and respect I'm posting about is happening. You can always go back to prospects much better than you could had you tried to over come or force or get a sale in the originial call because of the trust and respect a disengaging approach creates for future contact.

MitchM

Thomas

I would feel that way too but it takes more for a salesperson to earn my trust and respect than not pushing for a sale after I say no.