Romantic Sales #5: Gift of Love

February is the most romantic month of the year. In the lead-up to Valentine's day we are encouraging you to be romantic with your selling by sharing our Romantic Sales tips.  We'll cover the top 10 tips to spice up your sales in time for Valentine's day. Make February 14th the day you start Romancing Your Customers.

Tip # 5: Gift of love
Bette Midler's gift of Love isn't a great love song classic but it has the right message for today's Romantic Sales tip.

When you go on date with a girl you might buy her some flowers, chocolates or something similar.

When you give someone something, the receiver feels an obligation, even if it is a small obligation,  to give something back to you. A gift is a symbol of extending trust.

Sales has developed a selfish reputation.  The buyer subliminally expects to have to surrender their cash to get something and the sales guy is only there for the money.  I've even been on the receiving end of sales guys that wouldn't do anything unless they got an order. That's kind of like adopting the attitude with your girlfriend that you won't do anything she wants unless she lets you have sex. Hardly romantic.

OK you don't need to buy your prospects flowers and chocolates but you can give them gifts. So what kind of gifts could you give them?  Maybe putting a cutting of an important article, relevant to their business,  in the post with a hand written post-it note might be a suitable gift  (not an article self promoting your company though) - this shows you care and are thinking about them.  If you know the personal interests of your prospect maybe an email passing on congratulations when the team they supports has a good win could be a nice message. If you are more familiar with them then sending a joke via email could be a nice gift - make sure the joke however is not one that could cause offence.

These small "gifts" show that you care and build that all important relationship however they need to be given expecting nothing in return.

Running short conferences, webinars are also useful tools.  Don't make these too sales oriented - deliver relevant information that people would like to know.  If it is all about your product then it is not a gift. As a rule of thumb 80% of the content needs to be non specific to you and your business. Lucas Vigilante and Kent Rhodes runs an ActionCoach business coaching service for the Essex, UK area. They run half day free workshops and provide really useful advice about how to improve profitability. Lucas makes a big joke during the event when he switches to sales mode which gets a laugh. I've booked up to go to the same event a second time because I think the conference is great and they are fantastic no obligation gifts. I even drag other people along.  Not only do they give anyway this great gift, they give away yet more gifts as fun competitions during the event such as copies of books. 

If you are mentally tallying up all the free gifts you've given then you are storing up problems.  The gifts should be given freely and not create an implied obligation.  A subliminal obligation is fine since ultimately you want your prospect to fall in love with your company and shower you with orders! But if nothing ever comes of your gifts then do not become disappointed. Returning to Lucas and Kent - there's no heavy pressure to buy, sure they remind me they are out there and would love to do business but it's never with a tally card. 10 out of 10 for romance guys!

If you fancy attending their next event on Feb 15th (the day after Valentine's day when you will be out there selling Romantically), details can be found here:  http://6stepstowinning-eorg.eventbrite.com/

So get romantic and find ways you can give your prospects gifts. It doesn't need to be expensive meals or corporate hospitality.   If your company has branded merchandise, give it freely to anyone that would like it even if they are not potential customers - it creates goodwill.  I've given simple things like stickers and pens away to people that will never order anything from me. These people however are connected to people that could be potential customers - they might put a good word in for me. I haven't asked them to put a good word in for me - that would be an obligation to "sell me" in return for the bribery of  me giving them gifts.  I don't want to bribe anyone - they need to be put a good word in for me willingly and without forced obligation. 

So start giving your gifts freely and with love.

Romantic Sales #4: ABC of love

February is the most romantic month of the year. In the lead-up to Valentine's day we are encouraging you to be romantic with your selling by sharing our Romantic Sales tips.  We'll cover the top 10 tips to spice up your sales in time for Valentine's day. Make February 14th the day you start Romancing Your Customers.

Tip # 4: ABC of love

This isn't about that 1980's classic song The Look of Love by ABC but about closing.

ABC = Always Be Closing

Closing is not Romantic. ABC should be 

ABC = Always Be Casanova

So why isn't Closing Romantic?  It works in transactional sales where the likelihood of the sale falling away after the first date drops off a staggering 80%.  The same applies to the world of dating - you need to be Closing all the time when you are out on the pull if you are operating on a one night stand policy. 

Complex sales are rarely ever closed on a first date - the buyer needs to be slowly seduced into a sale, building lust and desire for your product. It may take 5 or more dates for love to blossom.

Closing is like asking for sex.  If you went on a first date and and kept asking for sex you would turn your prospect off and blow your chances of a second date.  

If you are a little more sophisticated, you might save the close for the end of the night and ask in your best seductive voice "Would you like to come back to mine for a coffee?".

Closing creates pressure to make a decision. If the buyer isn't in the mood then applying pressure will invoke either a fight or flight mechanism.  Your desirable prospect will either secumb, put up barriers to your advances or run for the hills.

Recall a torrid romance you've had.  You didn't need to close to jump into the sack - a  look was often enough without a word spoken to be tearing each others clothes off. I'm sure Casanova didn't "always close" to achieve his conquests.  He romanced his customers into a sale where 

it seemed the most natural thing to do.

So this Valentine's day stop closing and start being Casanova.

Romantic Sales#3: Attention

February is the most romantic month of the year. In the lead-up to Valentine's day we are encouraging you to be romantic with your selling by sharing our Romantic Sales tips.  We'll cover the top 10 tips to spice up your sales in time for Valentine's day. Make February 14th the day you start Romancing Your Customers.

Tip # 3: Attention

Our first two tips were Care and Listen

Our 3rd tip is Attention.  Give someone your un-divided Attention. When you Listen to them really focus in on what they are saying - give them your attention.  In today's noisy world, the most valuable thing you can give someone is your attention. Attention has become  a scarce thing.

Your goal is for your customers to love you and that means you need to given them your attention to make them feel special.

Avoid the temptation to make notes of the conversation with your iPad - it can seem like you are busy doing your emails rather than listening to them.  If you make notes about some trivial remark you may inadvertently make yourself look stupid. If they say something ground-breaking or unexpected, that would be the time to gasp, look shocked or make a note.

Eye contact is an important part of giving someone your attention. Different people have different levels of comfort over the level of eye contact so pay attention to what is acceptable on your first sales date.

The reptilian brain has been around for hundreds of millions of years and you may have noticed reptiles don't say much.  Humans are thought to have learnt how to speak a few hundred thousand years ago so the brain relies more on body language, sounds (tone of delivery) than the actual words you say.  The words you use are thought to account for less than 7% of the communication.  Body language is important.  

What message about how "attentive you are" does your body language give?

If you look like you want to escape from your prospect or grab their wallet, you will be subliminally giving the wrong message to your wannabe sales bride.  The message you want to give off is that you are comfortable with yourself and them, you are not in a hurry and willing to give them lots of your time but respecting that they may be willing to only give you a few minutes of their time. Make those minutes count. 

Smiling and nodding are important body cues to confirm your level of attention.

Body mirroring also re-enforces attention. Don't fake body mirroring - it will not appear natural and will build distrust destroying the goal of giving the prospect your un-divided attention.

In summary. Show you care. Listen attentively.

Romantic Sales #2: Listen to your heart

February is the most romantic month of the year. In the lead-up to Valentine's day we are encouraging you to be romantic with your selling by sharing our Romantic Sales tips.  We'll cover the top 10 tips to spice up your sales in time for Valentine's day. Make February 14th the day you start Romancing Your Customers.

Tip # 2: Listen to your heart

When you are infatuated with someone you may want to hear everything about them however in those early stages of a relationship, only talking about yourself can make you seem very boring and a turn-off.

When you listen to someone and ask questions about them, you are perceived as being interesting despite the fact you rarely speak or say anything about yourself.

So what is your selling style?  

Do you jump straight to your life story....."Our company was formed in 1982. Our founder had the vision to create the most boring waffle to make our prospects brain dead by telling them everything our company has ever done. In 1983 we had a new product idea that used the XYZ chip from MegaChip. The engineers were so excited about the chip - we built a very fast product that could go from zero to 250 Oogaflops in 1 second. We loved it and it had an amazing 2 elephant of RAM....."

Most people are simply not interested. Especially on a first sales date. 

This is an opportunity for you to ask questions about them and understand what is important to them.

Questions are your friend since they have to do the talking when you ask them.

Remember you have 2 ears and 1 mouth - use them in that ratio.

By listening attentively you can find out about their company, their needs and be perceived as interesting too. By listening you will be seen as more attractive - and it works in sales too!

Listening is not a easy skill.  When they are talking, it is not an opportunity for you to spend time formulating your next question or to plan what you are going to say next. Listen to what they are saying. Maybe take notes of questions that might come into your head  whilst they are speaking.

Be interesting and different by listening rather than switching to the "Telling" sales pitch

Romantic Sales #1: I'll Take Care of You

February is the most romantic month of the year. In the lead-up to Valentine's day we are encouraging you to be romantic with your selling by sharing our Romantic Sales tips.  We'll cover the top 10 tips to spice up your sales in time for Valentine's day. Make February 14th the day you start Romancing Your Customers.

Tip # 1: I'll Take Care of You
Would you love someone that didn't care about you?

What's the purpose of Valentine's day?.....It's to show you care.

To make your selling techniques stand-out, show your customers and prospects that you care about them.  Think of selling as making them fall in love with you.  Your goal is therefore to make your customers fall in love with you and a simple yet powerful way to do this is to show them that you care.

If someone only cares about themselves, they are selfish and yet this is the way most sales people approach sales. The sales person wants the sale and rarely stops to think about the needs and wants of their customer. They are selfish and don't care. By caring about your customer's problems and challenges you will be more successful in sales.

Caring is have an honest sincere interest in them and the issues they face.  If you simply going through the motions and pretending to care in order to get the sale then you don't really care.

Show you care with integrity.

Outlaw sales closing.

I'm really starting to detest closing. The ABC of Sales - ABC (Always Be Closing) should really mean (Always Bullshit the Customer).

Is there any evidence that closing works in complex sales? There's plenty of evidence it doesn't work.

OK completely abolishing and making closing illegal isn't realistic since closes are basically questions.   It's just that closing needs to be used in moderation and with the correct timing. In my quest to make sales more romantic, lets look at some closes from the world of dating.

"Would you like to come back to mine for a coffee?"
"Will you marry me?"

Let's look at these closes in a little more detail:

1/ These are questions derived to move things to the next stage.
2/ They both have implications and deeper meanings.
3/ They are closed questions.

In dating we are used to using these closes when the timing is right yet in sales we somehow lose sight of where the relationship is and whether the timing is right for a close.  Most closes are about getting the order.  We need more subtle closes, more like "fancy a coffee?". This has some subtelty to it - is isn't as blunt as saying "Do you fancy sex?".  Asking for the order at the wrong time is pretty blunt and can turn your buyer-off just like asking for sex when the mood is wrong may will more than likely damage your chances or get you blown-out.

Let's experiment with some alternatives.  How about some open questions rather than closed "yes/no" closes. "What do you think of this?",  "How do you see this moving to the next stage?".

If you are too reluctant to drop closed questions, how about "Are we OK to move to a trial?", "Is there anything else that needs to happen before you can get internal approval?"

Let's kill off the old school closing!

Which is the best book title?

I need your help. Nothing major - I would like your opinion on some possible book titles.

One of my goals for 2013 is to write another sales book.  I've been thinking about topics such as the power of words and their impact in influence and persuasion  and more recently I've been thinking about the role and psychology of the buyer.

A good starting point I find is the title so here are some thoughts on possible titles.

I would welcome your input on these.

Which ones grabbed your attention?
What would you expect the book to deliver?

Maybe you have some suggestions for titles.

Humane Selling
Customers have feelings too
Stop selling - start helping
Stop selling - start serving
Stop selling - start solving
Word Chemistry
The Sales Climax