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I’ve been updating my computer system (again!) lately and have been making periodic trips out to the local super computer chain store in my area for this or that. A fair amount of the time, I’m able to find what I need, get in and out, without much hoopla. But when I’m looking for a more expensive piece of equipment, I have experienced a little of what I’m calling the Attack of the Sales Zombies.

This is a pretty common experience which most likely we’ve all experienced: being confronted with a sales robot, someone unable to go it without a script or pitch, someone with no personality, asking the same questions or regurgitating the same thing over and over regardless of what you want.

If I’m confronted with a sales zombie, especially when shopping for a higher end item (like a car), I look for the closest exit. On occasion, I try to determine if it’s worth it to help the person out, but really, I just want to get away. Sadly, sometimes there are people so dead set at doing it by the book that no matter what suggestions I offer, they’re going to continue to do it with their script.

There are two simple things sales professionals can do to begin to understand true success in sales that awaits them when they truly grasp the power of persuasion. The first is to create rapport with your prospect. In old fashioned sales training, found in huge quantities in retail settings such as huge chain stores, suggest a brief ‘how’s it going?’ type of greeting. This is absolutely not rapport.

Rapport is pausing briefly on how the client/customer is doing, but really getting to the heart of the matter . . .”So why are we here today?” Why are they in the store? “What will having that do for you?” What will the product or service you provide do for them? “Ultimately, what will having this do for you?” The key is to really listen. LISTEN. Don’t push your agenda. Don’t try to give them whatever it is you need to sell that particular day unless it will truly fulfill their needs.

If you are a real estate agent, and you understand that the potential client is selling their house to move into a bigger one because their family is growing, you’re not going to sell them a smaller house. You’re not going to try to sell them a condo with one bedroom. You’re going to combine their needs, their values, and their criteria, with the inventory that you have which will work for them. It seems obvious.

The experiences I’ve had lately in retail have been so incredibly frustrating that I want to give sales trainings at the stores where I shop. So if you’re ever in the Seattle-Tacoma area and find yourself receiving extraordinarily persuasive and helpful service at a huge computer store, you’ll know why. . .

Tags: NLP

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