Cultivating perceptions

EVEN HIGHLY EXPERIENCED and successful salespeople can have a blind spot. So intent on what they want to accomplish, it’s easy to ignore how others view them. And it isn’t always complimentary. “Oh, don’t take Sally seriously. Just remember that she’s in sales.” This is one reason why year after year salespeople find themselves on the bottom rung of the public’s trust ladder.Going into sales can be like having three strikes hanging over your head every day: instant distrust, not being taken seriously and getting more rejections than you deserve. What’s amazing is that so many stay in the field even when few gain significant success.To cope with these negatives, salespeople have another “other job” and that’s marketing themselves more effectively. Here’s how to go about it:n Define yourself. Cultivating how others perceive them should be the No. 1 priority for sales professionals. The salesperson’s “other job” starts with identifying those characteristics customers value and respond to positively, as well as those that bother them and cause them to look for someone else. When salespeople ignore defining themselves, others will do it for them – and chances are the results will not be what they want.n Share what you know. Having the right selling skills is basic, but salespeople often ignore the critical role knowledge plays in attracting customers and closing sales. Today’s customers look for evidence that a salesman possesses the level of expertise they expect from those they work with.n Being on time. It may seem like a minor, relatively unimportant, or overly compulsive issue, but being on time is a performance benchmark. Having a reputation for being late sticks; it doesn’t go away. “Don’t give that assignment to him,” the manager said. “He never meets deadlines.” n Not talking about yourself. Some salespeople just can’t resist trying to impress prospects and customers by interjecting themselves (and often their customers) into the conversation. It’s easy to forget that those we speak with are interested in overcoming their problems, having their needs met and pursuing their opportunities, not listening to a salesman’s “stories.”It’s your solutions, not your “war stories” that get your customers’ attention. n Develop a give-and-take style. What today’s customers are looking for in a salesperson is dialogue, not a sales pitch. They want someone who takes time to interact with them, answering questions, and, most of all, being patient. Customers want to make the best possible decisions, not live with regrets. n Take ownership of communication. Here are two examples of salespeople who do it right. The first is the only auto salesperson I remember clearly. He made sure I didn’t forget him by sending along a homey email newsletter that was a fun read.The other one is a life-insurance agent who knows the value of communicating with his clients. In one email he said, “Congratulations for your dutiful attention in making the yearly premium payments, which are guaranteed to continue at the same rate.” It went on to point out how the policy accumulates cash values during the owner’s lifetime. It was a welcome reminder of why buying the policy was a prudent decision that deserved careful attention.Both salespeople took ownership of their communication. n Do the best thing. Eric Zelermyer, a senior iOS developer at Resy Network in New York, points out in his “Why You Are Not Steve Jobs” article what made Jobs an icon. It was a “relentless devotion to minute improvements in product design [that] engendered, over time, the emotional attachment of many millions of so-called ‘fanboys.’ “Jobs went far beyond simply doing the right thing. It was all about doing the best thing.Salespeople would do well to recognize what customers are looking for today. Transparency and authenticity are what “clicks” with them. Building that sense of trust is the salesperson’s “other job.” n

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