Everyone’s a little different, some of us more so than others. That’s fine. Variety is the spice of life. No one wants to engage with the same type of person over and over again. And that’s just as true for sales as it is for any other aspect of life. Sometimes you’ll run into customers that just aren’t susceptible to your brand of charm or plainspoken down-to-earthiness. What we’re saying is that everyone has a sales style, and knowing yours is half the battle when you meet a customer. Here are some of the different possibilities, and what those styles say about you.
The Best Friend
You’ve only just met your newest prospect, but you can already tell you’re going to get along just swell. In fact, you usually get along with everyone, and that helps you put your customers at ease. You remember kids’ names, anniversaries, and any other tidbit that the customer lets drop during conversation. This isn’t just a show, either. You actually do this with everyone you meet, so selling is just adding a product to your normal conversation. The downside—some people don’t need any more friends, and they would rather cut the chitchat. These people are the Red Foreman to your Eric. You can’t please everyone.
The Expert
You probably lack the natural charm of the Best Friend, and putting on that mask is just exhausting. So instead, you compensate by knowing everything there is to know about the product, the company, and the industry. You also have a few wise quotes memorized that you can bust out when the sale is on the line. “There are three constants in life…change, choice and principles.” – Stephen Covey. Whoa, deep. Sometimes you can get a little too technical and lose the customers who are looking for an emotional connection—see Best Friend for reference—but overall your knowledge really is power.
The Old Sage
You found some gray hairs last year and you’ve decided to go with it. A little experience never hurt anyone, and it helps you connect with older customers who don’t need another friend, and just want you to tell them what you’re selling already. It also helps you close deals with younger customers who see that experience and gravitate towards it. Watch out though, if your customer is too young they won’t get your reference to that Creedence song, and then you’re in trouble.
The Networking Friend
You’ve never passed up a party, but nowadays you use them as a way to network and “get your foot in the door.” This is pretty much how you treat any gathering of more than three people, and while some of your friends are tired of hearing your pitch, you’ve actually been closing deals left and right. You may notice people trying to slide away from you at wedding receptions, but that’s just a consequence of your technique that you accepted a long time ago.
If you love to sell, but find yourself dealing with other time-consuming aspects of your business too often, then contact Broker Online Exchange today. We love helping energy brokers just like you become even more successful.
