Julie Steelman
Sales & Business Bankability Mentor - CEO, SellebrateKAILUA KONA, HI
http://www.JulieSteelman.com
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Imagine you and a loved one are dining at a fine restaurant. You linger over the menu and then decide upon the most mouth-watering appetizer and delectable entrée. You both vow to save room for one of the sinful desserts you spied on your way in.
Your attentive waiter takes your order, nodding politely at all of your decisions. Minutes later, he arrives with a large tray and loads your table with your drinks, appetizer, bread, salad and entrée. Since there is no room, he hands you the dessert and suggests you put it in your lap. He asks, “Will there be anything else?”
Huh? Kind of ruins the experience, doesn’t it?
Now imagine that this same scenario isn’t happening at a restaurant; it’s taking place inside your business. The second most common selling mistake entrepreneurs make is delivering their entire sales story in one big run-on monologue. And it comes out like verbal vomit.
Clearly this is not the best way to start off a customer relationship, but it happens every day. And the reason it happens is because sellers often want to be sure they get everything out – every detail and every benefit – so they won’t forget anything. But it’s too much information for customers to digest.
Now let’s go back to that restaurant, this time imagining a positive experience. Your waiter greets you and asks if he can get you a drink. He delivers your drinks and asks if you have any questions about the menu. He takes your order. Then he brings a basket of bread. Maybe an appetizer comes next. Then you get your salad (would you like fresh ground pepper?) When you’re ready, you get your entrée.
And last, but not least, you are presented with dessert. Throughout the evening, your waiter checks on you and makes sure you have what you need. He doesn’t bring everything at once for a very good reason; you wouldn’t enjoy the process, and you couldn’t savor each course.
Buyers are like that, too. They need time to process what you are telling them. They need time to think about how you can help them. As sellers, we need to take baby steps and stay in tune with our customers so we don’t overwhelm them. If we give them the whole enchilada at one time, it’s too much to take in. And instead of navigating through the details, they will opt to go away.
Being effective at managing the sales process requires staying in the present moment and listening intently to the buyer’s journey throughout their decision-making process. It means slowing down and helping them place their best order.
I’d love your comments. Have you ever been guilty of verbal vomit? Oh, and if you’re tempted to ask what is the most common selling mistake, read my Ultrabrite blog by clicking on the right hand column.
