Never DUMP Your Candy in the Room

I open with three questions that may make you feel uncomfortable:

1. Do any of you consider yourself an expert and/or consultant?

2. Do you know how to establish yourself as an expert?

3. How do you know if you do?

Regardless of how you answered these questions or how long you have been in business or how many sales you close each year, you may be surprised to hear that most people do not know how to establish their expertise. And a mistake make make is being a talking brochure, assuming that their purpose is speak clear, exudes expertise by spewing forth vast amounts of knowledge and foresight, only to WOW their prospects and clients with their cleverness, wit, and attractiveness.

The following will bring clarity and truth to these misconceptions, help you better communicate and establish your expertise, and above all prevent you from DUMPING YOUR CANDY IN THE ROOM.

My guess is that many of you are proficient at commanding and audience’s attention. And it is safe to say that many of you are confident enough to stand before a large group and do that thing you do … but are you effectively establishing yourself as the expert that you want your prospects to know and engage?

Write this down … “Your expertise is established by the QUALITY of questions you ask, not by the words you speak.” Sure, you need to articulate your thoughts with average or better “grammatically correct” communication skills, but you do not need to speak like a know-it-all. Sitting down to a meeting with a prospect or client should never be one of grand orator vs. the lesser. And it is not a time whereby your sole function is to convince them to do something. It is a finely tuned communication process enabling you to masterfully ask questions, listen, ask again, listen, ask again, listen, ask again, and again. After all, the goal and outcome of each sales call is helping the prospect as well as yourself answer two questions: DO YOU WANT TO WORK WITH THE PROSPECT and DOES THE PROSPECT WANT TO WORK WITH YOU? You will accomplish this by asking questions and listening. Remember this very simple truth … “Whoever talks the most walks away with the product”.

How do we do this with precision? Simple … and ANYONE can do it. You create a list of questions that will help each client determine what it is they really want (or better yet … what problem do they want someone like you to solve) therefore stirring up the necessary emotions to motivate a decision. Following is a sample list of questions, in order of delivery, illustrating what I mean:

1. Can you tell me more (or explain further)?

2. How long has this been a problem?

3. What have you done to fix the problem?

4. Did it work?

5. How much has this problem cost the organization, and is that a lot of money to you (or to the leadership)?

6. How do you feel about the financial burden?

7. How do you see me helping you?

The purpose of questions, as well as the order in which they are asked is to stir up emotions necessary for prospects to embrace what they really want (not what they need), so they can FEEL the importance and urgency of finding a solution. We want the prospect to become emotional while you stay calm and affirming.

The process also dispels one of the biggest BUYER’S myths “People buy what they NEED”. The truth is that we ONLY buy what we want and we do so with emotion. We then RATIONIZE or JUSTIFY our buying decisions with our mind. Sure, we all buy basic needs, but we make emotional decisions based on what we truly WANT. A few examples: We have a need for transportation, but we want a CAR or TRUCK … you need neither … your only need is transportation. We need food to sustain life, but we want SUSHI or FISH or STEAK. We have a need for shelter, but we WANT homes with XX square feet, a view, a certain size lot, air conditioning, the latest technology, etc.

In summary, dig deep into your methods you use to establish expertise with your prospects and clients. Regardless of how successful you are, the level of emotional engagement and expertise that they feel towards you is directly impacted by the tactics you use … i.e. the questions you ask, not the words you speak. Remember these three edicts:

1. Your primary goal is to help prospects and customers make the right decisions

2. You do so by conjuring up emotional commitment to buy what they truly want

3. And NEVER DUMP YOUR CANDY IN THE ROOM

If any of this resonates with you, you want to dig deeper to learn more, contact me here: michael@michaelupp.com

#costefficiency #returns #communication #sales #strategy #salesefficiency #selfimprovement