“Education is still important, but you need to educate people from where they are, not where they used to be.” – Liz Wendling in today’s Tip 219
How do you genuinely influencing others?
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Liz Wendling Blog
The Heart of Authentic Selling
Sell Without Selling Your Soul
Liz Wendling Website
Liz Wendling on LinkedIn
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Transcript
Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Liz Wending. Liz is a nationally recognized business and sales consultant and the author of 6 books. Liz shows professionals how to make a profound difference in the way they sell and communicate both online and offline. Here she is:
Liz Wending: By the time today’s consumer meets face to face with a professional for an initial meeting or consultation. They are empowering themselves on the Internet. They’re doing their homework and they’re doing it on their terms, their turf, and their time. They will help from website to website to research you, to Google you, to read about your credentials and expertise and they’re going to check out your ratings and reviews. Now it’s time to meet them, so how you connect, communicate and engage with them. Out of the gate will deal or no deal, sale or no sale. So here is what today’s consumer is craving. Today’s consumers are saying, connect and relate to me. People are looking for a professional who makes a sincere connection and cares about them and their situation. They want you to take a genuine interest in them, give them your complete attention and truly listen to them. When prospects don’t feel a connection, they disconnect from you and disconnected people don’t say yes. Disconnected. People don’t write you checks. They don’t care if you can solve their problem. They don’t care if you’re the best in the business and come highly recommended. The consumer thinks if I’m hiring you as a person first and a professional second, you better treat me right. I’m buying who you are and how you treat me, not just your expertise. They’re saying, please make me feel like I matter and that I am not just another meeting or consultation. Another one is they’re screaming. Don’t treat me like I’m clueless about my options. In the past, the traditional approach relied on meeting with a potential client, willing to sit quietly and be educated. A time where people had little knowledge and fewer choices. Professionals were taught not to sell, but rather to educate. Don’t sell yourself in your services just educate, educate, educate, and then educate some more and the consumer will hire you on the spot. While that does not work anymore. Education is still important, but you need to educate people from where they are, not where they used to be. Find out where a prospective client is regarding their knowledge and insight. And navigate the consultation and meeting from there. When you step in and over-educate someone who’s already educated, you will aggravate and irritate them. Take the time to find out where they are and start the conversation from there and the last one, they are so shocked when you don’t do this. They say, “I have a name. Why don’t people use it? “I have a name” Please use it.” How would you feel if you went to a heart surgeon or sat down and talk to a financial planner or a tax accountant or an interior designer and that person never used your name in the consultation except when you met them, except when you first shook their hand. Addressing a client by their name not only personalizes the conversation, it builds and deepens a connection, but whatever you do, don’t overdo it because that’s creepy. I always suggest that if you can use someone’s name three, maybe four times, depending on how long the conversation is, but if you’re not using someone’s name. Today, you should start testing it out. It works like magic and it really creates a deeper connection. So these issues are not minor. They are major keys to genuinely influencing others to say yes to you and not your competition.
Scott Ingram: As always we’ve got more links for you to connect with and more about Liz at DailySales.Tips/219. One of those links will take you to a free audio program where Liz will show you how to transform your sales language and change your sales results.