Sales
"You're A Great Salesperson": The Worst Compliment You'll Ever Hear!
There are two things that you never want to hear from a prospect:
(1) Excuse me, but I think your hair is on fire! And
(2) You?re a great salesperson!
This article isn?t about fire safety, so let?s rush to number (2).
What?s so bad about hearing a compliment, especially one that pertains to your profession?
Isn?t it the same as hearing, you?re a great doctor, lawyer, or priest?
Not at all.
Being told, by a prospect, that you?re a great salesperson, is an insult. It says, the person is monitoring your technique, your tricks of the trade, your show, your efforts, and all of these motions are for naught.
He ain?t buying!
He?s probably saying no in the same way that he?d blow off a losing job applicant.
?You have so many skills and strengths that I?m sure you?ll have no trouble connecting with the right company, one that will really appreciate what you have to offer.?
Sweet, right?
A truly great salesperson doesn?t seem like he?s selling, at all. This doesn?t mean he isn?t using techniques?of course he is.
It?s like what they say about art. It?s art when the art doesn?t show.
When you look at a great painting, you should be instantly involved in its subject, not in how the individual brushstrokes were applied to the canvas. You should be stirred by it, and not be paying attention at all to the frame in which it is displayed.
The next time you?re told you?re a great salesperson, take it to heart if your sales manager made that statement, and raised your pay, in the next breath. Or, be uplifted by it if it comes from a customer who just wrote a check to your company.
But if what you really want doesn?t occur after this compliment, then go back to the drawing board. Come up with a way of selling where the selling doesn?t show!
Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone? and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC's Annenberg School, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.
Dr. Gary S. Goodman
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