Pete Hautem Says Don’t Fake Sincerity

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Pete Hautem, National Sales Consultant, Billboard Planet

In my 50+ years of sales, I’ve witnessed all kinds of sales techniques imaginable. Pretty sure I’ve also used most of those techniques. Most of them don’t work!  Here’s what works. A first impression. Yep. You have one chance and one chance only to make a first impression. If you don’t pass that hurdle, chances are, you aren’t going to make a sale.

As both a sales person and a consumer, I can usually tell within the first two minutes whether or not I want to do business with a person. An ego will shine through like a searchlight. A condescending attitude will do the same. A smug look or a smirk will turn me off immediately. Inappropriate clothing will make me lose interest. Don’t get me wrong. Casual is in. Flip Flops aren’t! Looking down on someone because they are older—-or younger—-also doesn’t work. Acting like your product or service is the best in the world won’t work. It probably isn’t, by the way, but it might work perfectly for your prospect. It’s your job to find out whether or not that is the case.

Sales is complicated in a lot of ways and becomes way more complicated when sales people don’t practice it correctly. Don’t make it more complicated by bad methods. Make it simple by understanding, invoking, demonstrating, listening, and empathizing with your prospect’s needs and/or desires.  I don’t expect any of us to change our basic personalities, looks or styles. We are all different and unique. What I do expect, though, is a sales person to realize they aren’t the most important person in the room. Number one is the prospect and number two is the product/service. The sales person is simply the marriage counselor.  If a sales person understands that and conveys that, success will just be a couple steps away.

 

Pete Hautem is National Sales Consultant at BillboardPlanet, LLC.  You can reach Pete at 423-834-0876, petehautem@gmail.com.

 

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