Words that help

"Why?"

"I understand"

"Can you clarify that for me please?"

"Thank you"

SILENCE can be your best friend. Let them talk themselves into and out of the situations that present themselves. Keeping you ego in check will enable you to listen more and talk less.

Dale Carnegie said the sweetest sound in the world is your own name; I tend to disagree slightly. I believe it is the sound of our own voices. Letting them talk enables you to do your job with the least amount of effort and the greatest degree of success. Also, letting them talk gives you the information you need to build value and develop a relationship.

Speaking of which, going into a client's domain every salesman in the world will glom onto that thing they show proudly to develop a common ground. The best client I ever had kept nothing personal in his office.

I had to work to learn about him, to listen to him, to ask questions, to listen, to observe, to listen and to earn the right to become a 'friend'. I keep that in mind all the time.

Another time long, long ago I recall a Jaguar having an unfortunate birthday in the showroom. As happens a spiff was put on for the end of the month to try and move it. No luck for anyone. But wait! There is good news.... a 'farmer' came in and wandered his dusty, booted way over to the Jag. All but one ignored him. The one that approached discovered the 'farmer' was a physician who was looking to replace his TR-7 convertible with a new car and had been watching the Jag for a couple of weeks. End result; the Jag sold at list, the salesman got the spiff, got an in demand trade (sold the following week) and he earned a client for life. The salesman is still in the business and he still sells high cost vehicles to the same client thirty years later. He kept his ego in check, did not stereotype based on appearances and did his job.

I learned from that but it was only recently I discovered the reason why he was so successful; he kept ego in check.

Do I sound like a broken record? Good. It is vitally important to recognize that as a salesman your ego is what prevents you from success; nothing else.

Back to the top... I have made it a policy to learn how to say 'Greetings/Hello', 'Please' and 'Thank you' in the language of their heritage. I have fun in learning how to do that and it seems really work with my clients.

So, learning to be polite and keeping your ego in check and refusing to become familiar without express permission appear to be directions to success.

Thank you.