Do you like salespeople? Most people don’t.
When people think of salespeople, they usually think of words like “pushy,” or “sleazy,” or “manipulative,” and the list goes on and on.
It’s like they study from some secret book of how to manipulate people or something.
Why is this?
What specific behavior do salespeople exhibit that makes most kind folk want to avoid them like plague?
It’s usually two things.
One is a lack of rapport, and the other is a lack of criteria.
We’ve already talked about rapport, today we’ll be talking about criteria. It’s that thing that we’ve got in our heads that lets us know when we’re getting what we want. The more specific the criteria, the easier it is to see if we’re getting it.
If you’re hungry, and you KNOW you want a cheeseburger, it’s pretty easy to determine if you’re getting your criteria met or not.
But if you’re looking for a new romantic relationship, most people have “fuzzy” criteria to say the least.
What does this have to do with sales? The more details and information you can get regarding somebody’s criteria, the easier job you’ll have.
Those ultra-pushy salespeople? They don’t concern themselves with your criteria. They’ve just memorized a list of features and benefits, and hope that by spitting them out to enough people, they’ll get enough sales to earn a living.
Good for those who actually want what they’re selling, not so good for the rest of us.
But if you know that your prospect (or target) is even kind of interested in something, then it’s easy.
All you’ve got to do is get rapport, and elicit criteria.
Of course, if you’re trying to sell somebody a pizza and they’ve got their heart set on a cheeseburger, it’s just going to be frustrating for everybody.
But the good news?
Most people’s criteria is really fuzzy. So when they express it, it will be with very “vague” language. They’ll use words like “safety,” “comfort,” “respect,” “affordable,” etc.
And because meaning is so slippery, it’s pretty easy to show them how their criteria can be met with your product or idea.
Even better news?
The more you talk to them (with strong rapport) about THEIR criteria instead of YOUR product? The more they’ll simply assume you’ve got what they want.
Try this out sometime. Get out of your head, and just talk to other people about what THEY want.
And watch what happens.