Selling eloquence

Chapter 19 Opening with a witty phrase, shortening the distance with customers (1)
When meeting a customer for the first time, the first impression given to the customer is very important, and may even play a decisive role.Therefore, it is very important for salespeople how to make a clever opening when they meet customers, so that customers will have a good impression of the salesperson at once, and then they will also be interested in the salesperson's sales.This chapter focuses on several opening methods commonly used by successful salespeople for your reference.

1. Seize the Opportunity Opener
In sales, the opening remarks of the salesperson can be said to determine the success of the sale.

— Dave Dotholson

As a salesperson, you may wish to think about why they stop what they are doing to listen to your introduction when they make initial contact with customers.So, put yourself in the customer's shoes and ask yourself why they should listen to you and why they should focus on you.Then, carefully prepare your opening remarks. Please remember that the opening time given to you by the client may only be 30 seconds. In this extremely short time limit, whether you can seize the opportunity depends on your performance.

Here's an example of a successful opener used to grab a client.

A sales professional decides to visit the headquarters of a major global corporation. After a series of correspondence and phone conversations with John Carson, the company's vice president of public relations, they finally agree on a time to meet.

The purpose of the salesman's meeting was to explain to the company's senior executives that they would allow him to write a book about the company.Because he needed to interview more than 100 employees of the company, it was absolutely necessary to obtain the approval of the company's management.Without this promise, his plan would not have been possible.

The salesperson arrived at John Carson's office a few minutes before the meeting began.After exchanging pleasantries, John said: "I personally support you in writing this book, and I think this is also a good PR opportunity for our company."

"Thank you, John, that's great news," the salesman replied, "and I agree with you. It will create a good reputation for your company."

"I've recommended it to our company's board of directors. But unless you get their approval, things won't work."

"This book is good for your company," said the salesman. "I'm sure they'll approve."

"Unfortunately, I don't like your confidence." John said.

"You don't like it?" the salesperson asked.

"Let me start by telling you who's going to be in the meeting," John said, "in addition to our top executive and our senior president of marketing, the executive vice president of public relations and the vice president of corporate affairs will also be there. Attend, and if your proposal is approved, the Vice President of Corporate Affairs will work directly with you on this matter."

"Now, the problem," continued John, "is that everyone thinks your book is a good idea, but the problem is we're not going to make any decisions about it today. And then it's like a bunch of other ideas Like, buried somewhere. Since it's not our number one priority at the company, it won't be brought up for discussion. What I'm saying is, no matter how good your book is, unless it passes today's , or it will be shelved indefinitely."

"That's really the best warning before this meeting," said the salesman with a pale smile.

"One more thing," John added, "we have a meeting at 10:30 and another meeting at 11, we can't be late, and you only have about 25 minutes to pitch your book. "

Soon, the meeting was held as scheduled in a meeting room, and the head of the meeting was the company's top executive.The salesperson felt that if he could convince the executive, others would follow his decision.Moreover, the salesperson understands that he only has one chance today.

John starts by introducing a few of the salesman's books, then kindly expresses his personal liking for the books the salesman sent him earlier, then turns to the salesman and says, "Now it's your turn to speak."

The salesperson got up and said in the most humble and sincere voice: "Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honor to express my opinion here today to the senior managers of your company. Your company is known as one of the best organizations. When I I have admired your company since I was very young."

He went on to say: "To speak to you today is truly the highlight of my career. After all, you are responsible for the future of this multi-billion-dollar multinational enterprise. Today, you give your precious time to Give me, so what I'm going to tell you is what I'm going to write about the book, the history of your company, and the whole process of professional management today."

"I'm really glad you guys invited me to this meeting today, because when I walk out of here in 20 minutes, I already know what your decision is. That's what I admire about you top executives. That's why you've managed the company so successfully. I've met the executives of a big company," the salesman said in a low voice, "I won't name them, but you don't believe me. What a misfortune to endure, all because of their inability to make decisions. They have to go through countless prevarications before accomplishing anything. I swear I will never work with this company again because their management has Caught up in the bureaucracy, immobilized, so that top managers can't make important decisions. I have so many good ideas for a book in my head, I don't need this kind of misfortune in my life. If I realize that a company If I was in this misfortune, I would step away and choose to work with other companies."

The salesperson then explained the content of the book chapter by chapter. This explanation took 10 minutes.He ended with another 5 minute question and answer session.

After he answered several questions, the top executive of the client company said: "I don't see a reason why we shouldn't let this salesman write this book. He can start working on this book. Do you have any disagreements?" ?”

Almost everyone nodded in agreement, and after John closed his office door, he said to the salesperson, "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. I really don't think your book Any chance of getting through. I congratulate you on a terrific pitch."

The salesperson in the example above closed the deal with an "opener to seize the opportunity."Generally speaking, what really seals the deal is what you say at the beginning and half of the pitch.Therefore, as a salesperson, you must make good use of the opportunity of the opening remarks to firmly attract the attention of the customer and grasp the heart of the customer. 2. Stimulate customer interest

Many times, you are kicked out within 30 seconds of meeting with a customer, to a large extent because your words can't arouse the slightest interest of the customer at all.

— Brian Tracy
Having an opening statement that can fully arouse the interest of customers is the first step in successfully approaching customers and selling successfully.Only when customers are interested in what you said at the opening, will they give you time to continue introducing them, and then it is possible to pay for the products you are promoting.Therefore, the salesperson should prepare an opening statement that can arouse the interest of the customer in advance.

Specifically, in order to fully stimulate the interest of customers, there are mainly the following ways.

(1) Quote famous quotes and sentences.One day, a well-known life insurance salesman went to visit a university professor. He started like this:

"Philosopher Bacon once compared scholars to three kinds of animals: the first kind of person is called a spider-like scholar, and his research materials are not found from outside, but spit out from his stomach; People are called ant-like scholars, who accumulate materials but do not know how to use them; the third type of people are called bee-like scholars, who collect the essence of flowers and brew them carefully. Professor, from the perspective of Bacon’s metaphor, where do you think you belong? What kind of scholar?”

Famous quotes like this will definitely arouse the interest of customers, and this kind of words is more in line with the identity of customers.Customers can't help thinking: "Yes, which category do I belong to?" In this way, the conversation can continue through this question, and being able to continue to communicate with customers is the prerequisite for successful sales.

(2) Stimulate the other party's needs and desires.

Liu Kun, a salesperson, called Manager Zhang under the introduction of his friend Xiao Zheng: "Manager Zhang, I am a classmate of your good friend Xiao Zheng. He often mentioned you and said that you are young and promising."

"..."

Liu Kun: "Crafts are more popular now, and the market is huge."

Manager Zhang: "However, the quality is inferior and the price is high, the name is not worthy of the name, and it is not easy to operate. We are worrying about this problem now!"

Liu Kun: "Manager Zhang, I am currently working in the sales department of the company. We have hundreds of different high-end handicrafts that are now opening up the market."

Manager Zhang: "Xiao Liu, can you tell me?"

Therefore, Liu Kun carefully explained the prepared plan, got the approval of the manager, and signed the contract.

In this opening remark, after mastering the customer's idea, the salesperson introduced his company's products, which just met the customer's needs.

(3) Ask questions unexpectedly.

There was a salesperson who sold fruit juice presses. When the owner of the customer’s home he visited opened the door for her, her first words were: "Do you have a high-end juice press at home?"

The host was stumped by this sudden question, he turned his face to discuss with his wife.The wife was a little embarrassed and curious and said, "I have a juice press at home, but it's not a high-end one."

The salesman went on to say: "I have a high-end one here." Then, he took out the juice press from the bag, and started to demonstrate while explaining.

The advantage of this question is that it does not immediately make customers feel that you are trying to sell them products.Because people generally hate what others take the initiative to sell them, but like what they want to buy.The salesperson only said that there was a high-end juice press, but did not ask the customer whether to buy it, which aroused the customer's interest.

If the salesperson changed his first sentence and said, "I want to ask, would you like to buy a new juice press?" or "Do you need a high-end juice press?" The result can be imagined.

3. Gain customer attention
Some salespeople fail because they don't know what the key points of sales are.In fact, the key point is very simple, that is: the most basic needs of customers or the most interesting details.

— Rich Porter

The goal of the opening remarks is to attract the attention of the other party, arouse the interest of the customer, and make the customer willing to continue the conversation with the salesperson.Attract customers through a good opening statement, have a good start, and thus move one step closer to promoting sales.

So, how can you successfully grab the attention of your customers with just a few sentences?There are several commonly used techniques as follows.

(1) Mention the issues that customers may be most concerned about right now.The salesperson can find out a problem that is related to the customer's needs and at the same time the product sold can bring immediate benefits to the other party. At this time, the other party will naturally express concern.For example:
"I heard from your friend that your biggest headache now is the high scrap rate. After adjusting the production line, this problem has not been fundamentally improved..."

Salespeople can also ask questions to get the customer's attention:

"Do you want to reduce raw material consumption by 20%?"

The salesperson can even continuously ask the other party questions to guide the other party's attention to your product.For example, a salesperson might ask:
Salesperson: "Have you seen our products?"

Customer: "I haven't seen it!"

Salesperson: "This is our product." And at the same time show the sample, and then say: "Our company sent me to visit you specially. What do you think of our product?"

It is worth noting here that for those questions that may be answered in the negative by the other party, you should ask carefully.

(2) Praise each other.For example:
"They said that you are an expert in this field, so they also want to communicate with you..."

Of course, praise should be appropriate, and excessive praise will make customers feel disgusted.

(3) Mention his competitors.For example:
"We've just worked with companies and they think..."

When customers hear about your competitors, they will focus on what you have to say.

(4) To cause customers to resonate with something (in principle, customers also agree with this point of view).For example:
"A lot of people think that visiting customers face to face is the most effective way to sell, I don't know what you think..."

The point of this approach is to understand the client's work before the visit.

(5) Use data to arouse customers' attention.For example:
"By adding this equipment, you can increase the production efficiency of your business by 50%..."

"I know that your company's scrap rate is relatively high now. If there is a way to reduce the scrap rate by half, would you be interested in knowing?"

(6) Notification time limit.For example:
"I think this promotion can save you a lot of phone bills, but this promotion ends on December 12, so I should let you know..."

This time constraint creates a sense of urgency for the client.

The above methods can be used interchangeably. It is important to make an appropriate choice according to the actual situation at that time.Of course, when the salesperson is talking with the customer, he must express and greet the customer in a positive and cheerful tone.

In addition, it should also be noted that salespeople often have this situation when communicating with customers. When meeting with customers, the atmosphere is very good at the beginning, but after a while, they don’t know what to talk to customers about. Or the whole process is just a salesperson giving a speech.We must remember that in order to make the customer speak, we must end your opening remarks with questions; otherwise, the visit will be temporarily deadlocked.

4. Pull home routines to get close to customers

When talking with customers, salespeople are always trying to break the deadlock and lead the topic into the right way of sales; when should stop gossiping and talk about serious things.

— Brian Tracy
A car sales champion said: "Getting close to customers does not mean blindly bowing to customers, nor is it eager to explain products to customers. Doing so will make customers evade. When I first entered the company as a salesperson, I was approaching customers. At that time, I only sold cars, so I often couldn't quickly open the customer's "heart defense". After countless experiences and speculations, I finally realized that instead of directly explaining the product, it is better to talk about the customer's wife, children, or Talk about country things. Making customers like you can make or break your sales.”

Once, Frank, a well-known insurance salesman, sold insurance to a difficult-to-approach client. The client was very indifferent to him and didn't want to listen to his introduction at all.

Seeing this situation, he began to change the subject subtly and talked about the client's entrepreneurial experience, which is naturally the topic that the client is most proud of and also the topic he is most interested in.

The other party also slowly changed his indifferent attitude and talked with him about his past, present achievements, difficult entrepreneurial process and various setbacks with great interest. factory, and the client happily agreed.

When leading him to visit his factory, the customer felt the long-lost satisfaction and happiness, which made him forget the physical and mental exhaustion caused by work.

Although the client did not buy his insurance that time, he was not discouraged.He thought he had at least opened the door, successfully approached the client, and learned a lot from the client.And the other party obviously regarded himself as his friend, so it would be much more convenient to contact him in the future.

As a result, just as Frank thought, after a while, the customer came to him on his own initiative and bought several insurance policies from him at once.Before leaving, the client also mentioned to him that Frank's optimism left a deep memory on him and deeply infected him.

It can be seen how important it is for salespeople to make daily routines with customers.Not only sales masters can get close to customers through daily routines, but ordinary salespeople can also approach customers through daily routines.

(End of this chapter)