What are we ultimately trying to create with a prospect or customer? I believe it is credibility and trust. In every buying situation, the prospect will consciously or unconsciously conduct a “credibility debrief.” They will determine if you have the belief in your product and in the solution you bring. They will evaluate your expertise and decide if you are capable of helping them and they will mentally and emotionally explore if you have the commitment to do what you say you’ll do. How do you differentiate yourself from everyone else in these areas?
Does your selling system create a trust environment at closing? There are a lot of selling systems in place. They’re all good and bring some level of knowledge to the selling situation, and you can make money with them, but they’re old. Most have been around since the 50’s and 60’s and remain much the same while the culture, attitude and business of selling has changed. But closing has evolved.
There were the old closing methods like the Benjamin Franklin close, the Appointment Close, and the Impending Event Close. For those of you too young to remember, the impeding event close sounded like, “Oh yes, you can think it over all you want but the price goes up on Monday!” That’s a real relationship maker.
But we moved on to those enthusiastic cheers like, “Let’s do it!” “We can get started next week”, and the trust building, “Our most successful clients buy this.”
Using any of these makes you look, act, and sound like a traditional salesperson and that’s exactly how you will be treated, like a salesperson. And that puts you at the bottom of the business evolutionary scale.
Successful salespeople today are business people in sales. They have moved beyond the vendor and solution provider roles and are developing business skills that elevate them to consultant, advisor and partner roles with prospects and clients.
You don’t still use typewriters, pay phones, and overhead machines. Why continue to use old selling systems?
