You've probably been in a buying situation where the salesperson made you uncomfortable. Perhaps that seller was a bit too slick. Perhaps they used technical terms you didn't understand but were intimidated to ask for an explanation. Whatever they did to make you feel uncomfortable, chances are you didn't buy from them.
In any sales situation, the only person we have control over is ourself. If our prospects are to be comfortable, we are the one to make it so.
How do we do this? There are many ways to manage the tension level which spikes as we get closer to asking our prospects for a decision. First, be certain that you are not speaking "radio" or "newspaper" or "TV" to them. We get so used to using our industry terminology that we forget that someone outside of our industry may not understand our terms. Most of the time, they won't ask for an explanation. They simply won't buy.
How we say what we say makes a big difference also. Do we speak clearly? Do we paint word pictures with our voices? Are we certain we don't have annoying habits (ticks) that can drive a prospect crazy? I've seen everything from clicking pens, shaking feet, straightening a tie, to bouncing around in a seat.
There are also words we should use to manage the tension level: authorize, approve, agreement, results, proven, easy,
save, results, profit, let's.
There are words we should NOT use because they can spike the tension level: contract, deal, sign, cost, buy, liable, obligation, price, pay, decision.
I once taught a gentleman who had spent 15 years selling newspaper. As we went through the above list, he shared with me that when he was dealing with a client who was using a competitor's product, he used the words like this:
"How liable are you when you sign their contract? What type of obligation do you have to pay for their deal? With our agreements, we make it easy. All you have to do is authorize this campaign and the results have been proven by other of our clients."
In other words, he used the bad words when referring to the competition and the good words when referring to his own.
I thought this a bit diabolical, but certainly brilliant.
Our job is to manage the tension level, to make our potential clients comfortable in saying, "Yes" to our offers. Use these techniques: higher billing awaits!
