| I was sitting at my desk last week when my | | | | Let me guess: |
| phone rang. I picked it up and said, "This is | | | | |
| Ari with Unlock The Game." The woman on the | | | | Get information |
| other end of the phone said, "Hi, my name is | | | | |
| Julie Jackson, I'm with XYZ company and we | | | | Find the decision maker |
| are a...and we offer...". As she continued to | | | | |
| speak, I stopped her in mid-sentence and | | | | Schedule an appointment |
| said, "Hi, Julie." | | | | |
| | | | Make a sale |
| There was dead silence on the phone. | | | | |
| | | | In other words, you want something even |
| I could sense her struggling to react to my | | | | before the person you call says "Hello." |
| spontaneous overture at making personal, | | | | |
| genuine contact. She was so locked into her | | | | It's time to throw out your "selling" |
| presentation or script that she had no idea | | | | language and unlock your natural language. |
| how to respond to me. | | | | |
| | | | Here's how: |
| The idea of just conversing with me in her | | | | |
| most natural way was a completely foreign | | | | Be willing to challenge everything you have |
| concept. | | | | learned about selling up to this point. If |
| | | | you aren't open to questioning conventional |
| (She eventually took a deep breath and we | | | | sales thinking, you'll never have a chance to |
| transitioned into a very pleasant | | | | experience selling in a completely different |
| conversation about the possibility of us | | | | way. |
| being a "fit".) | | | | |
| | | | Replace your goal-oriented agendas with |
| What has happened to us? | | | | trust-building agendas. |
| | | | |
| Can't we just strike up a conversation with | | | | Learn to enjoy the processing of building a |
| people we don't know and build a relationship | | | | new relationship. |
| that way? | | | | |
| | | | Build a dialogue. |
| It's ironic that most of us take it for | | | | |
| granted that spontaneous, natural | | | | Avoid centering the conversation on you and |
| communication is the right way to relate to | | | | your offerings. |
| our friends, spouses, relatives, and others | | | | |
| in our personal lives -- but, when it comes | | | | Enter the conversation without assumptions. |
| to selling, our language becomes, almost | | | | |
| robotic. | | | | Trade overconfidence for humility. |
| | | | |
| Why the breakdown? | | | | Any signs of overconfidence when you first |
| | | | make contact with a potential client will |
| Because when we make a sales call, we want | | | | only set off "sales alarms." Humility (not |
| something. The people we're talking with | | | | weakness) starts the trust-building process. |
| sense this immediately. They put up their | | | | |
| guard. Our hidden agenda and their reaction | | | | Visualize the person you are speaking with as |
| immediately destroy the trust-building | | | | a potential friend rather than a potential |
| process of communication. | | | | client. This will help you to converse rather |
| | | | than "sell." |
| We go into our personal relationships wanting | | | | |
| to simply know the other person. But we go | | | | When you tap into your natural language |
| into sales situations with agendas and | | | | abilities, it triggers the person you're |
| assumptions. | | | | speaking with to tap into their own natural |
| | | | language as well. |
| And because we've been conditioned that a | | | | |
| sale can happen only if we control the | | | | Like you, they will abandon their "business |
| process, we never even consider the | | | | language" and begin communicating with you in |
| possibility that there can be total | | | | their most natural way. |
| flexibility in how we communicate and build | | | | |
| trust. | | | | Natural language is the crucial secret to |
| | | | transforming the outdated, ineffective |
| Quick self-assessment: When you pick up the | | | | "buyer-seller" role into a trust-based |
| phone to make a sales call, what are you | | | | relationship based on open, natural |
| hoping will be the outcome? | | | | communication. |
| | | | |