Today’s Tip Sheet is (hopefully) gonna knock the socks off your current selling strategy. It’s something that YOU may already know a little bit about, but the majority of people that are selling their products or services, completely ignore.
If you want to become a grand master of closing the sale, then you need to keep on reading.
Have you ever read a book or listened to a tape on selling, where it’s nothing but a pitch-fest, with rebuttal after rebuttal until the customer is so worn out that they just give up and say “ok, ok, I’ll buy anything, just leave me alone?”
This is a dandy way to make one sale, but it’s a dirt-poor way to make a CUSTOMER… and that’s what we’re all about over here at the Underdog Millionaire. We wanna make some serious customers.
So, what am I getting at, you may be asking yourself…
We’re talking about a strategic sales technique called consultative selling.
When you become a consultative sales person, you start to do the same thing that I do when I analyze a business for hidden assets. You talk to the client and find out what is REALLY going on, what they really need. Not what they are asking for.
Before you get that glazed-over look from having to learn a new word, let me ‘splain a little better, Lucy.
Let’s think about what happens when we go to the doctor:
1. Something is hurting, festering, or falling off so we go see the doctor.
2. The doctor asks us a lot of questions, performs diagnostic tests, and waits for the results.
3.The doctor then makes a recommendation, prescribes some sort of concoction, or tells us to see a specialist, because he/she cannot help with our problem.
Now, at no point during that visit does the doctor say “you don’t have to tell me anything about you. I have just the right thing,” and then hands you a lollipop to fix a broken arm that he didn’t know you had.
…but that’s the way that many people are selling.
They just try to make the sweetest deal possible and then jam it in the customer’s mouth before they can mumble out what their problem really is.
Well, you are an Underdog Millionaire.
You. Know. Better.
Therefor, when diagnosing your next “patient,” you need to think more like a doctor and less like a sales person.
Here are a few tips to help get you going:
- Ask a lot of questions and shut your mouth while waiting for the answer.
- If you don’t have a product that can truly help the customer, recommend them to someone who does (they will forever respect you).
- Take the time to form a diagnosis of the problem. Create cheat sheets and other tools that you can give to the client so you can decide the best way to help their problem.
Once you have the consultation completed, you tell the client what you found and make a recommendation to solve it, hopefully with your product.
There is no SELLING.
There is no CLOSING.
There is no SPOON! (sorry, that was for the Matrix fans out there)
There is nothing but a consultation, a diagnosis of the customer’s problem, and the recommendation.
You can do it too. It’s just a simple adjustment in the ol’ thinker between your ears. Consultative selling is the way to go and the best way to build a relationship with your clients.
If you want to know even more ways to build sales relationships and to keep customers for life, check out the Underdog Sales Bible and become a master at closing the sale without selling at all.
What do you think? What is a sneaky, little Undedog Millionaire sales technique that you would like to share with your brothers and sisters? Add a comment below and Tweet this puppy to everyone that you know…thanks.
In your service,
Joshua Black
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http://www.underdog-success-formula.com
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{ 6 comments }
First of all, love the graphic. Something about a little old granny flipping the bird is just timeless.
You analogy with a doctor coming into a ‘relationship’ with a sale perspective is a great one too. There is a great reason why doctors do not do that and subsequently great reasons why someone who cares about more than a single sale should avoid being/or being seen as a “huckster”
Thanks Steve,
Yeah, I liked that picture too. Being more of a doctor to your customers and being less of a “huckster” as you say, is one of the best ways a small busines owner can differentiate him/herself. Especially in these days of commodity pricing, you really have to show that you are different from the other guys.
-Joshua Black
That thing you did back there with my name, that was really quite scary (I actually looked over my shoulder).
Lucy,
Ha, that was quite deliberate! I knew you would be visiting. Actually, I just like the “I love Lucy Show,” and that was Ricky’s line…but hey, it’s even better to have a real, live Lucy on board.
-Josh
Great idea. I think it’s important to be honest and know your own limits. If you can’t satisfy your customer’s needs then simply refer them to someone who can. In the end selling is actually all about helping – helping your customer find what he wants after all.
Julius,
Exactly right. Of course you don’t want to go overboard and refer every customer away from your business. After all, you are not in it as a charity, but when a customer can tell that you are really trying to help them by actually referring them AWAY from your business, it’s a golden opportunity to maintain a customer for life…strange as it sounds.
They will always say “oh yeah, that was the business owner that really helped me with that problem. I know where I’m going to go the next time I need his help.”
-Joshua Black