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How savvy are you as a salesperson? Do you act and talk like every other rep out there, or have you found ways to distinguish yourself? Insurance salesperson Carol recalls blindly using an old technique that resulted in her failure. Here's her story:
The sales call started out smoothly. I had generated a good lead and called on the company to discuss handling its insurance needs. The office manager really had her act together, giving me all the information I needed to submit to insurance carriers in order to get the quotes. I drafted the proposal and went to meet the business owner to present her with choices.
Everything continued well. My numbers were good, and the prospect was giving me good buying signals. I had been aware of her unusual last name and decided to add in my Dale Carnegie strategy. Carnegie wrote that people's names are the most precious thing in the world to them. Questions about people's names can be quite flattering, he suggested, as there is often a story behind them; i.e., perhaps a prospect's family came to America from a foreign country, or maybe a famous person was an ancestor of a prospect.
"I have a friend, my very best friend in the world, with the same unique last name as yours. Could you two be related?" I asked. My big smile invited her to share some personal information.
She glared at me. That's my husband's ex-wife,” she said.
In my mind, alarm bells rang, lights flashed and a voice whimpered, "oh no."
She said, "We'll get back to you." Of course, she never did.
Postmortem
Poor Carol. She was so close, but then stumbled over an old technique. Carol's strategy would have worked if she simply asked about the name without making a personal comment. Dale Carnegie's belief in the preciousness of one's name is quite solid thinking. But blindly following the technique is not the mark of a true salesperson.
You can distinguish yourself from competitors by knowing your strategy well enough to make it your own, whether or not it was inspired by an old method. If you sound and act like everyone else, you will teach your prospects to only buy based on price -- even if you do manage to avoid a blunder. Be determined to be unique and never blindly follow a technique; always consider your context and audience. Prospects will remember you and pick you out from the crowd. They might even look forward to your visit.
[Dan Seidman of SalesAutopsy.com has been named one of the Top 12 Sales Coaches in America by Ultimate Selling Power. He collects sales horror stories for use in his speaking and training programs.]
