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Rule of selling game Have Changed Mary Paramore Imagine this scenario. You are a salesperson intent on selling that car or condo or computer. You see a prospect and make your way toward him. What will he do?
McDonell, guest speaker for the Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce meeting Oct. 20 at the Clarion Hotel, shared a few tips anyone hoping to make the sale, any kind of sale, should know. “A prospect has a system,” McDonell said, noting it’s a system the prospect likely doesn’t know he or she using. “One, a prospect will mislead you and lie. Why? It’s a self-protection tactic. They don’t want to be sold.” Doubtful? What did you tell that used car salesman the last time you were perusing the lot? “I’m just looking…” while thinking, “Let me shop in peace!” McDonell explained that prospects want your knowledge and will gather information, but will not commitment to anything. They may take your card and give you their number, but then they will hide. Still doubtful? Does “Tell him I’m in a meeting...” or “Tell him I’m on another line…” sound familiar? Being in business himself, as an authorized licensee of Sandler Training, McDonell stopped short of telling his audience how to get past a prospect’s resistance. He did offer more, however. McDonell described today’s buying climate compared to 20 years ago. “What’s changed?” he asked the audience. “The Internet.” The new challenge for salespeople is that their prospect no longer relies on him or her for product information. McDonell described a childhood experience, shopping for a microwave with his parents. He said, “My parents expected to be educated by the salesperson.” Today’s shopper researches online, and then shops. That’s why it’s imperative to know exactly where your business stands in the Price-Relationship-Trust Continuum. To illustrate his point, McDonell drew a chart to compare how important price, relationship and trust are when you are a peddler, a vendor, a consultant and a trusted adviser. “I had a friend who wanted to run his pizza business as a five-star restaurant,” McDonell said. “It was tough marketing. It’s important to be consistent on where you are, whether you are a peddler, a vendor, a consultant or a trusted adviser.” McDonell explained that price is the most important consideration when people buy from a vendor, whereas price becomes least important when buying from a trusted adviser. As a business moves up the continuum, McDonell explained, a prospect increasingly expects to be educated. |
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According to Chris McDonell, president and owner of