Greetings Floor Dealers!
Have you ever had the experience of getting a whole cluster of sales rejections in a row? I certainly have. Over time I began to notice a pattern: it seemed that these “rejection clusters” happened far more often when was feeling down and discouraged, or questioning the value of what I was selling, or feeling like no one would pay my prices. Going into selling situations under these psychological conditions, I would many times fail to get the sale even though I did the exact, memorized, highly-skilled presentation that I had done successfully the week before. And I would sometimes have that happen multiple times in a row.
After failing to get yet another sale, I would carefully review my presentation, ask myself what I had done wrong, and all too often I realized that I had done NOTHING wrong; at least not consciously. But that was the key. I came to the conclusion that somehow I was unconsciously sending signals to my prospects that I was discouraged, that I didn’t believe anyone would pay my “high” price, that maybe my product wasn’t WORTH the price I was charging, that my business was failing, etc. Somehow they were picking up on what I was feeling.
This phenomenon was so predictable that I came up with a phrase to describe it: The sharks can always smell blood in the water. Meaning that if I was “bleeding” emotionally my prospects could sense it, thus severely impacting my ability to sell.
I’ve studied the teachings of many sales masters in the years since I coined that phrase and most of them talk about this phenomenon. What it really boils down to is what we communicate non-verbally: eye movement, facial expression, tone of voice, posture, etc. And when we are feeling negative, it’s very difficult not to convey those feelings non-verbally. What makes the situation more complicated is that the prospect may not be conscious of what’s happening. All they know is that they don’t “feel” good about the presentation, and therefore they don’t buy.
This is a huge topic, obviously, since it involves human psychology. But the lesson to take away is that it’s important to go into a selling situation believing in your product, believing in yourself, believing that what you are selling is absolutely going to make your prospect’s life better, and that it’s worth every penny—and more—of what you are charging. The way to keep this belief strong is through good “brain food,” like you get as a Flooring Success Systems member. Listen to the CD’s, read the newsletters, read books by top-quality business authors (i.e. Dan Kennedy, Brian Tracy, Bob Burg, etc.), and participate in the coaching calls.
Oh…and take a break from the friggin’ “24/7 negativity cesspool,” a.k.a. the national news media.
To Tons Of Customers!
Jim Augustus Armstrong is The “Coach”
Jim Augustus Armstrong is the President of Flooring Success Systems, a program that equips dealers to double their profits, cut their work hours in half and beat the boxes! Many dealers have totally transformed their businesses and their lives for the better after joining Flooring Success Systems.
See what real, live dealers are saying!