How many times have you begrudgingly attended an event thinking about all the other places you would rather be during that time? Or things you could be getting done if only you didn’t have to be where you were? If you’re like most of us in these types of scenarios, you probably faked your interest. As much as you didn’t want to go to that particular event, you knew you needed to be there, so you put on your “happy” face.
Now apply this to a sales situation. How many of us have actually enjoyed listening to the same old salesperson go through the same old sales pitch? The sales pitch where all the rep does is push his/her product and talk about how great it is. Nobody likes to be the customer in this type of sales meeting! The customer in this sales scenario is likely sitting across from the sales rep faking interest. The customer may be nodding his/her head or occasionally throwing in a light smile, but inside, he/she is probably wishing for the meeting to be over. As sales professionals, it’s important to ensure we are never putting our customers in a situation where they feel the need to fake their interest!
So how do we make sure our customers are truly interested in what we have to say? By being interested in them, of course! Instead of sitting down with our customers and dominating the meeting with talk about our product and its capabilities, we need to show interest in our customers and what they do. Ask your customers questions and let them lead the topic of conversation. Don’t rush this phase. As learned in Carew’s Dimensions of Professional Selling® sales training, Positive Contact has the ability to set the tone of your entire relationship, so let your customer talk and make sure you are listening to them and following-up with relevant questions.
Once your customer knows you are interested in them, it’s more likely that they’ll be interested in you and your product when it comes time for you to present your solution. The next time you’re in a sales meeting where you feel your customer might be feigning interest, ask yourself whether you’ve genuinely shown interest in them. If you haven’t, be more interested in your customer and watch as they start to show sincere interest in you!
