I laughed so hard! But the information in the post is absolutely true. People buy you before they ever buy the product. And unless the product has nothing to do with their needs, they will buy if you are likable. Thank you, Jonathan

Personally when I walk into a store I’m looking for a good price or someone who knows the product and can answer questions. Manners are important, but thats about all the criteria I have.
Things I don’t want is a long sales pitch, someone who hovers around or disappears and then can’t be found.
As for someone cold calling at my door, or a tele-salesperson they have no chance because I will send them away.

All of us sell everyday, even if we never see a traditional customer. It never ceases to amaze me how some people make their work so much harder by not attempting to be even slightly likeable.

It does make a huge difference when you have your own business and sell your own stuff. I think you can fake it and it works sometimes, but later it will often come back and bite you in the butt.

When you convince people to buy things they don’t really need or want, you increase the chances they regret it and want to back out later. That’s a waste of their time and yours, not to mention a good way to burn yourself out fast. I think it’s just really important to just be honest and not be pushy.

I’ve also gone out of my way to buy from people I like more and where service is better.

Not much to add to this one. It is dead on. I can only attest that it works. I have a very untraditional approach to sales.

Mine is to be open and honest with my clients. Tell my profit tell them my challenges. I try to inspire them to be great and that my product will help them.

In the end my goal is that my clients are just as invested in my success as I am invested in their success.

I hate bidding on jobs. I like to partner with people for success.

So if there was one distinction to add. Are you in sales or in partnerships. Partnerships have a greater chance of success since both parties are invested.

Just some thoughts as well. You hit it on the nose.

Brian

Thanks. I tend to agree with you. However I also think modeling after someone who is different than you is a good way to “start.”

Example: pickup artists like David D’Angelo (Eban Pagan) – they teach the same way to all their students. The same approach. But none of their students end up with the same routine. People adapt it and make it their own.

Its the same with GTD time management system. People start out with GTD. But I know very few people who still continue with GTD after 5 years too. They adapt the GTD system to meet their needs.

Re: NLP and modeling. (I didn’t mean mirroring when I used the word modeling. But its a good relevant point – so continuing the conversation…)

See a few Darren Brown videos. He uses modeling and cold reading to persuade people to agree with him – no matter what he says. Some very freaky stuff.

The most successful salespeople model prospects. But they do this unconsciously. What NLP teaches is modeling consciously.

Yoga teaches us that everything is a 2-way street. You can change your thinking patterns and your breathing will change. Or you can change your breathing rate and your thinking patterns will change. It works both ways.

Modeling is going the round about way.