5.) PEOPLE MAY FORGET WHAT YOU SAY, BUT THEY’LL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MAKE THEM FEEL.
I didn’t come up with this one, but I didn’t fully believe it until I learned it first hand. If you walk into an appointment in foul mood, boy you better snap yourself out of real quick. You’re allowed to feel tired, worn down, even a bit exhausted……but you better let your foul mood show through.
Step outside yourself and take note of things like your voice tone, facial expressions, body language, and the ease with which the conversation is flowing.
How well/closely are you listening to your prospect? Are you actually listening to and hearing what they are telling you? Or are you just trying to think of what you’re going to say next?
This is a very easy trap to fall into if you’re not being present minded. Time is valuable, and time is money, so getting caught up in the hustle and bustle of the week can make this an easy pitfall to find yourself in. Just be careful. If you actually listen to people, and care about helping them, they will sense that from you.
Always remember: emotions are contagious. It wont take long for a negative, foul mood to start rubbing off on the person you’re in front of. Be a goddamn a professional.
6.) PEOPLE DON’T CARE HOW MUCH YOU KNOW, UNTIL THEY KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CARE.
Lead every appointment with an emphasis on what it is you are going to do for them. What value are you going to offer them? Make that the primary focus for at least the first 10 minutes. This will require patience on your part. If you do this however, they’ll be much more receptive to your offer because you’ll have already displayed to them that you’re willing to put their needs before your own.
Doing it this way, makes you stand out from everyone else because most or your competition is doing the opposite (they’re leading with trying to pitch their product). Again, be a professional, and always show the prospect what you’re willing to do for them first. Remember: People care less about your product, and how well you know your product, than they do about whether you’re actually interested in helping them.
7.) IN 2017, PEOPLE EXPECT INSTANT GRATIFICATION.
What I mean by that is people expect you to get back with them almost immediately. If they text you, or call you and leave a message, they want acknowledgement. This is something that has become a recent phenomenon just in these last few years I’ve noticed. I can say that because I’ve been in sales for 7 years now (since 2010), and it wasn’t like this until about 2015-2016 (at least not as bad).
I think it has to do with the age we live now with all the smart phones and instant gratification. People have become accustomed to getting what they want at the tap of their fingers. As with everything in life, there are benefits and drawbacks. If you’re sales, this is just something you’re going to have to accept and get used to.
If you’re one of those people that doesn’t keep your cell phone at your close hip at all times, your business will suffer. What I mean by that is: Are you one of those people that commonly finds yourself responding to text messages with: ”sorry I just now noticed this text! So to answer your question…………..”
In this day and age, people will hate you for that. If who I’m describing is you, and you’re in sales (or own your business) change, and change now. Even if you don’t own your own business, if you’re in sales and your clients or prospects have the ability to text or call you, you better develop the ability to respond FAST.
In other words: Pull your head out of ass.
I will say that girls have this problem much more commonly than men do. Easy solution: don’t have so many different things going on at once that you don’t notice text messages. It’s been common knowledge now for several years that multitasking is highly inefficient anyway (sorry girls).
Have a little more single minded focus and it will serve you and your customers better. It doesn’t matter if you agree or disagree with the reality that people want instant gratification. It doesn’t matter if you agree with it.
There’s a lot of things in life I don’t agree with, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t true. It’s 2017, people want instant gratification and that’s just all there is to it.
If you don’t like it, then get out the sales industry. Get out of the customer service industry. People don’t need you to solve their problem right away, they just want you to acknowledge them.
I know, I personally think its bullshit, I also patience is something that doesn’t exist anymore, but it is what it is. If you want the ability to immediately get what you want, realize there are consequences.
8.) TAKE ACTION, AND TAKE A LOT OF IT.
Taking action is and always has been, the name of the game in sales and in operating a business. The more action you take, the better off you’ll be. In some cases, even taking the wrong action is better than taking no action.
Don’t be the little bitch that is afraid to take action in life. Go forward in the direction of your dreams and goals.
This is the #1 problem I see with people who wonder why they aren’t successful. The first step to realizing you have a problem, is realizing that the problem exists in the first place. Most people have no idea that they aren’t putting forth enough daily action. This is mind boggling to me.
It comes down to simple math. It comes down to the numbers. How many people are you seeing each week? How many appointments are you running? How many phone calls are you making each day, how many emails or texts are you sending? Are you utilizing each form of communication with each prospect? For example maybe that person responds better to emails than they do to texts, or vice versa.
Easy solution: Find the most prosperous and successful guy in your field. Someone that’s doing something very similar to what you’re doing (for example if you’re an insurance agent, find the highest producing agent in your state, and ask them how many people he saw each day, each week, and month, when he was where you are).
He’ll be glad to tell you. Successful people are always happy to tell other people what they did (and are still doing) to become successful.
If they aren’t happy to tell you, its because they’ve done that same thing in the past and their advice has fallen on deaf ears. If you’re going to take the time to call a successful person, and ask them why they’re successful, make sure you actually employ the advice they give you.
Sales is a numbers game, and it requires you to take unreasonable levels of action.
Until next time,
Live intentionally
-Matt Mitchell
