Gene McNaughton, Made To Persuade - Blog

Rapport: Where Ultimate Sales Power Begins

2011-12-22 20:00:00

Everyone agrees that rapport is the basis of every great buying/selling relationship. In fact many would even agree that every sale starts with that initial meeting and conversation. And lets face it, rapport is the basis for trust, and trust is one of the #1 reasons that people will buy from you. I have seen people win deals because they had superior rapport, and I have seen people lose deals because they didn’t have strong enough rapport.

Here’s the challenge: Most companies and their salespeople take RAPPORT for granted. They assume that they are great at it, all of them. When I interview salespeople, I always ask them, “are you good at building rapport with your prospects?” – the answer (always) “yes, I am really good at it”. I always ask them this key question: “ok, what is your strategy to build rapport?” (Sales Leaders, I challenge you to do this with YOUR salespeople) – their answer? “um.. I don’t know, I just go do it, I just go with the flow…blah blah blah” –in all cases: NO STRATEGY. And you all know by now, those with strategy, always win over those with NO strategy.

So, here’s 3 strategies that you can employ with your sales people to build great rapport:

Pay close attention to how you dress. Did you know that people start making decisions about you (called “initial impressions”) within the first 10 seconds of meeting you? Pay very close attention to your clothes (neat, pressed), your hair (professional), facial hair (MEN: did you know that in multiple studies, men with facial hair had a 35% lower perceived trustablity rating?)

Pay attention to your mindset: here’s the key: you have to train yourself to look for something that you like about the other person. Tell yourself in advance “I am going to find something I like about this person” – its powerful to set the course of how your brain will think. And every time, you will find what you are looking for.

Look for common interests. Likeability starts with commonality. You can find common interests by doing research prior to the meeting (Linked In and Facebook are my favorites). And the key here, is NOT that you spend most of the time telling them about yourself (big error that many make), but you spend the time in asking THEM questions, and letting them talk.

Know that RAPPORT IS POWER. And the key to being great at it? Get the best tools, get the best strategies, and practice practice practice. That’s what pays off in selling.

The WRONG time to ask for Referrals

2011-11-11 14:00:00

I work with so many companies that WANT to have a great referral program (who doesn’t right?) – but spend very little time strategizing on how to create one. When I ask them about their referral program, almost all business leaders will say “yes, we do get some referrals.” – and I always ask them the same question; “ok great, now what IS the strategy, how do you train it, and how do you manage it?” – of which, every time, I get a blank stare. So, immediately, the business leaders declares “from now on, its MANDATORY that ALL salespeople ask for referrals on every sale!” .. basically demanding that the process occurs.

Here’s what I say: “Hold up, why don’t you step back, and really think through your referral strategy. Its not just asking for referrals that will increase them, its STRATEGICALLY asking for referrals, at the right time”

Again, blank stares.

I will tell you the same thing I tell them: They key to a great referral program is to understand the right time and the right way to ask for referrals.

Stay with me. Lets first talk about the right time to ask for referrals. HINT: its NOT when you make the sale! – the RIGHT time to ask for referrals is when your client actually starts to experience the BENEFIT of what your product or service does for them. You see, in most cases, when we buy something, we really don’t experience the benefit of it, until we start to use it. Once we start to use it, then we become (in most cases) even more enamored at the benefits of our purchase. THAT is when your CLIENT is experiencing what I call the Peak Referral Status. When they FEEL great about using your product or service.

So, here’s the key: Study how your clients first use your product or service, and understand when they should be experiencing the major benefits of what your product and services are. Then, THAT’s the time to place a phone call. Typically this phone call is NOT just about getting a referral. I like to call them “professional courtesy calls”.. ideally, this should come from the salesperson, but in reality (as I’ve done with many companies) you can have someone from the administrative staff make these calls. Its really easy, if you lay the scripts out for them.

And it goes something like this “Hi (name) this is (your name) calling from (your company). I see there that you purchased our (product/service) on (date), and I am simply calling as a professional courtesy to make sure that everything is perfect. Would you mind if I ask you 3 quick and easy questions?”

That’s the start of the conversation, and let me tell you, that almost NOBODY says no to this.

In my next post, I am going to tell you exactly how the rest of the script goes, and the VERY best way to actually ASK for the referral.

Get in the GAP to Persuade

2011-11-11 13:15:00

One of the most important keys to sales and persuasion is the understanding that when you find someone’s Gap (ie: the difference between where they are now vs. where they want to be, or could be) you then have the power to help them make a change. So many salespeople want to immediately start talking about themselves, their product, or their service – and they do it with great enthusiasm. The main problem is that they are enthusiastically persuading in the wrong way - they miss this key understanding: People will only take action on something that is perceived to either: a) solve a problem that they have or b) make their life or business better in some way.

The MASTER persuaders know that they need to be patient before presenting their product or services. They know not to get sucked into the urge to talk, talk, talk – they know to ask a series of well thought out questions that stimulate the thinking of their prospect and helps them to think through and verbalize how their business or life could and should be better. The MASTERS help them further identify why and how their existing situation could be even better. You see, their main source of causing mental and physical action is in the questions that they ask.. before they start presenting.

When you patiently ask the right questions, focused on understanding your prospect, their issues, their pain, and what it may be costing them, you get the keys to the kingdom in terms of persuading – THEIR Gap. And when you can solve a GAP, your ability to move people to action increases dramatically.

Remember, NO GAP = NO SALE