About salesmen talking .. and making mistakes
Kristin Zhivago writes on Revenue Journal, “Salesmen talking: The 7 worst mistakes“.
But Kristin is too modest.
She writes about monitoring companies responding to new customers. It seems that the companies had attracted new customer attention online, but the sales force was getting too few sales for all the leads. Kristin and her organization checked a bunch of calls, and found seven common problems. Problems that ranged from the salesman not respecting the customer, getting bored giving out the requested information, not answering the question asked. She found that, too often, the salesman was arrogant - so proud to show off his knowledge that the customer was ignored (another act of disrespect). Then there was the general failing - failing to make the customer feel like he was heard and understood.
Kristin goes into more detail. She also offers the insight that a salesman is being tested on every question the customer asks. Every question. By every customer. The salesman needs a passing grade. As a poster at Conoco stated, it takes seconds to lose a customer that it took months to find.
* Is this guy hearing me?
* Is this guy answering my question?
* Is this guy being honest?
* Is this guy treating me like an intelligent person - or an idiot?
* Is this guy trying to show me how smart he is - at the expense of solving my problem, or is he really trying hard to help me?
* Is this guy rambling on about stuff I don’t care about, or does he give me a straight answer and then let me ask my next question?
* Does he really not know the answer? And, instead of saying, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out,” he’s serving up a bunch of BS?
* Is he talking too fast, faster than I can absorb it or take notes, or is he talking at a respectful speed?
* Does he really care if I am ‘getting it’ or not?
So where do I disagree with Kristin? I do and I don’t. Kristin knows sales, and selling.
It sounds to me, though, that this particular breakdown in communication applies to a lot of dates, a lot of broken and flailing relationships, and marriages having troubles.
The seven symptoms? Lack of respect, arrogance, knowing more than your date - that is, disparaging your date - these don’t win friends and influence people. Or attract responsible, respectful partners. Her list of answer checks? They absolutely apply. It takes seconds to lose a date that it takes weeks or months to get invited to.
What do you think?