While I have been saying this forever, now that Forbes has jumped on the Band Wagon I am thinking it might work? Your customer is now savvier and they know all the tricks and the sometimes lay in wait for them.
To Increase Revenue Stop Selling
Engage me, communicate with me, add value to my business, solve my problems, create opportunity for me, educate me, inform me, but don’t try and sell me – it won’t work. An attempt to sell me insults my intelligence and wastes my time. Think about it; do you like to be sold? News flash – nobody does. Now ask yourself this question, do you like to be helped? Most reasonable people do. The difference between the two positions while subtle, is very meaningful.
It’s not about you, your company, your products or your services. It’s about meeting customer needs and adding value. When you start paying more attention to your customer needs than your revenue needs, you’ll find you no longer have a revenue problem to complain about.
(forbes.com)
I was talking with a friend who was telling me how a phone sales person was trying to sell her something, think it was carpet cleaning, and they tried the good old alternative close. You know, would you prefer this day or this day…. this time or this time. … Well, she kept them going for a good 3 minutes by saying no to each option so that they got very very frustrated.
In the end she said: You never offered me a ‘never’ option. No thank you.
Sure this person had done a lot wrong during the call to determine her interest and her need, and closed way too soon….sigh. It is about THEM. It doesn’t matter how they reached out to you. That must always be the focus and the start of any communication or question.
