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The approach
includes everything that takes place from the time the salesman meets the prospect
until the salesman begins their first selling talk, or until the salesman
enters the second phase of selling, which is interest.
At this point the prospect
has not been told much about your proposition. This is your chance to make
them curious enough to want to know more.
Curiosity can be aroused in a person in many ways.You
walk into a department store to find people crowded around a table looking
at something. Out of curiosity you go over to the table to see what they
are looking at. It’s a new model of DVD player. If you’re interested in a
new DVD player you will want to know all about how this one works. If it
does everything you want in a DVD player this may stimulate the desire in
you to want to own it, thereby, leading you to make the decision to take
the necessary actions to buy it.
Your potential
customer is no different than you in this regard.
Or you see
someone looking down the street. Out of curiosity you began looking down
the street too to see just what has captured their attention.
A stranger comes
up to you on a sidewalk. Two questions immediately come to mind. “Who is
he?” “What does he want?”
A salesman
telephones the manager of a store and tells them they have a brand new
product that is being introduced in the area. Of course the details are far
too many to go over on the telephone, so the salesman makes an appointment
to demonstrate the item to the manager. The manager is automatically
curious about just what this gizmo is and how it works. The first step of
the selling process has already started in the mind of the store manager.
You see a man run
out of a bank holding two giant moneybags and jump into a car and speed
away. Soon after, you hear a police siren. You are not curious about why
the police is chasing behind the car, but you may be interested in the
outcome. We are not curious about things we already know and understand.
Without curiosity
you cannot get the prospect interested in your proposition. Without
interest, the prospect will not care anything about your claims. If you
cannot convince your prospect that they will benefit from your offer, you
cannot create the desire in them to want to own it. You will not be able to
get the prospect to make a buying decision and take action.
It is also important
for you to implant a favorable personal impression of you in your
prospect’s mind because even if your prospect is curious about your
proposition, they will have little or no interest in having that curiosity
satisfied by you, if they are repulsed by your behavior. On the other hand,
if you present yourself in a favorable manner, it will strengthen the
curiosity for your proposal and open the door to interest.
You must pay
close attention to your prospect after getting the prospect curious about your
proposition. When you have piqued the curiosity of the prospect, don’t
continue along this line for an extended period of time. You will exhaust
the prospect’s curiosity and the first stage of the selling process will
fall flat and it will have to be started all over again. After creating
curiosity in the prospect’s mind, you should move on to the rest of the
stages of the principles of the selling process.
Just remember,
the first 15 seconds of your approach, that of creating curiosity in the
prospect’s mind, are the most important. If this is not established the
rest of your sales talk will be meaningless. So you can see the necessity
of making a good strong opening statement, thereby getting the prospect
curious about your proposition, so they will want to know more about your
offer. It is also important to leave a favorable personal impression in
your prospects mind.
Copyright © 2005
Gloria Whitehorn and Dovemang.com All rights reserved
About The Author: Gloria Whitehorn is the
owner of several online businesses. She is the author of two books,
freelance writer, business coach and an authority on salesmanship and
business practices. Check out her site that's jam-packed with the exact
information you need to start, build, and grow your very own profitable
Internet business. I highly recommend visiting her website http://www.dovemang.com
She knows what she's talking about.
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