How Can You Sell by the Golden Rule?
Now that you know what you want from a seller, you can better define the type of seller that you can be. The characteristics you want to have include:
Trust
Honesty
Helpful attitude
Acknowledgment as an individual
Listening to the buyer's needs
Accurate information
Options
Clear explanations
Guidance through the buying process
Is this definition of a Golden Rule Seller realistic? Is it attainable? Again, there are many successful salespeople working right now who strive to apply Golden Rule Selling in all of their transactions. You can join them.
Don't depend just on your own perceptions of what buyers want. Ask them. Find prospective buyers for what you want to sell and ask them how they make their buying decisions. What do they consider? What do they want from the seller? How could their current sales source be improved? Your job is to listen to buyers; start now.
Building Trust
Trust is “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.” To trust someone is to not question what that person says or does. Trust is built by not giving people a reason to disbelieve you.
Unfortunately, once you are identified as a “seller,” trust often goes into negative numbers. That's why many salespeople refer to themselves as “associates” or “buyer consultants.” But a title in itself won't convince many people to trust you.
How can you, as a seller, build trust? There are many ways, expanded upon throughout this book. In short, building trust begins with acting in a trustworthy manner. For example, if you walk up to a retail buyer and start acting like a pushy “seller,” it won't work. Instead, approach buyers neutrally. By coming up to them wearing a name tag and/or uniform, you've already identified yourself as a representative of the store.
Trust is an invaluable asset in all transactions. Trust is the belief that others will not take advantage of your position, needs, vulnerabilities, or openness. It is offering personal information to others and expecting them not to abuse it. It is believing that what someone tells you is true. It is acting upon the knowledge of others. Unfortunately, the perception of trust can be forged. That's why many people withhold individual trust until they test it. As a seller, your job is to initiate and build mutual trust with your customers.
If they don't respond to you, leave them alone. If they do, be as helpful as possible. If they attempt to end the conversation with a “thank you,” respond with, “Please ask me if you have any other questions. Thank you.” Then step away. Sell as you want to be sold.
Honesty
Honesty is adherence to the facts. It is a refusal to lie, cheat, or steal. It is knowing as much as possible about the product or service that you sell — and not making things up if you don't know. It's how you want to be sold.
For example, a real estate salesperson may respond to your question about financing with “You should have no problem getting a loan on this home.” Unless the person already knows the specifics of your financial condition (called “prequalification”), the statement may or may not be true. It's not honest. An honest response would be “I'd have to know more about your financial qualifications to answer that question.”
Unfortunately, too many salespeople feel that if they answer all questions honestly, they will lose the sale. They feel they can't afford the personal loss, so they make up an answer they believe the buyer will accept. The right answer is the honest answer, even if it is “I don't know, but I can attempt to find out.” Most buyers will accept this answer and also respect the honesty of the seller. Most can easily spot a made-up answer and dock you points in the “honesty” column.
Helpful Attitude
All buyers have purchased products or services from salespeople who weren't very helpful. They needed the product more than they needed the help. However, millions of dollars in products and service have gone unsold because buyers didn't get the help needed to make an informed decision.
How can you apply the Golden Rule of Sales — sell as you want to be sold — to helping buyers? That's an easy one: Think of yourself as the buyer's helpful assistant. In fact, that's what you are. What does the buyer need to make the buying decision? Facts? Examples? A demonstration? A reputable endorsement? Offer these services to your buyer, whether selling shoes, soft-ware, sailboats, or samba lessons. Be helpful. But don't be pushy. Some buyers don't want much help in making their decision. Others do.
Acknowledgment
In this world of nearly 7 billion people, it's nice to be acknowledged as an individual — sincerely acknowledged. In some sales situations, names may not be exchanged, but the seller still can acknowledge the individual buyer by looking him or her in the eye and being friendly.
If names are given, they should be remembered and reused appropriately. As the dynamic sales psychologist Dale Carnegie said: “Our name is, to us, the sweetest word in the English language.” Remember a person's name, and you will be remembered. It's a major component in Golden Rule Selling.
Listening
If everyone's talking, no one is listening. One of the most neglected rules of selling is “Listen to the customer.” Most salespeople would rather “talk” the customer into buying. Unfortunately, many continue talking after the sale is made and keep talking until the sale falls apart. The problem is that gregarious people attracted to sales often think of themselves as born talkers. Instead, they should be born listeners.
But what if the buyers aren't talking much? Then ask. Begin with neutral questions that can be answered positively, then move on to questions that tell more about the buyer's needs and thoughts. Ask both closed-ended and open-ended questions, as appropriate.
Closed-ended question: “Is the red or the blue one better for you?”
Open-ended question: “How would you use this tool in your shop?”
Additional techniques of questioning will be developed in this book. One of the greatest skills of selling is knowing how to ask questions of buyers.
Accuracy
Accuracy is freedom from error. As a buyer, you don't want to base your purchasing decision on erroneous facts. In addition, if you discover an inaccuracy, it will pollute your perception of the product or service and the people who represent it.
Some error comes from honest mistakes. The list of product specifications weren't carefully reviewed before publication. A misleading statement was made or an accurate statement was misunderstood. Mistakes happen. The task of a responsible seller is to immediately correct the mistake or error as soon as it is identified. Doing so in conversation with a buyer can actually enhance your image as a knowledgeable seller. Just don't let it happen twice.
Options
Buying is about choices. Some salespeople believe that offering buyers too many choices will bog down the process and ruin the sale. It may. However, most modern buyers are sophisticated, multitasking people who can make clear decisions among numerous choices.
Your job, as a responsible and helpful seller, is to make sure that the buyer is offered appropriate choices. That doesn't mean you drag out all of your samples, color combinations, accessories, and options. It does mean that you ask appropriate questions to narrow down the options, then present products or services that fit your buyer's agreed-upon needs.
For example, if you are a car buyer, you don't want every model made by every manufacturer to be paraded past you. Instead, you want the seller to ask you relevant questions, then to offer you appropriate choices. That's Golden Rule Selling.
Clear Explanations
Selling isn't a monologue — it's a dialogue. However, to be effective, the conversation must be clearly delivered and clearly received. That means questions, answers, and explanations need to be understandable. Otherwise, the seller is answering irrelevant questions or explaining points that don't need clarification. Time and trust are being wasted.
There are numerous proven techniques for clarifying a buyer's question or comment. One is to rephrase the question and ask if that is what the buyer means. For example, “Are you asking about the length of the warranty?” Another is to ask the buyer to rephrase the question or comment. “Can you tell me what you mean by ‘trouble free’?”
On the other side of the dialogue, make sure that you speak clearly and at a moderate pace when explaining features, benefits, or terminology. Remember that some of the words you use may not be clearly defined in the buyer's mind. Watch the buyer for facial and body clues that indicate failure to understand what you are explaining.
Guidance
As you will learn in this book, selling is a process. The process is similar for selling and buying most things. The primary difference is in the detail. The process and detail required to sell a book, for example, is less involved than that for selling a boat. However, each requires a decision. A decision is the process that leads to a selection from among variables.
“Should I go to work today or to the ball game?”
“Given traffic, which way should I drive to work today?”
“Should I stop for a donut before going into the office?”
“Where will I have lunch?”
“Should I ask for a raise?”
“Should I leave a little early?”
“Where am I going to work now that I'm fired?”
Lose a sale, but don't lose a customer. A sale may bring you a hundred dollars in income, but a customer, over time, can be a source of thousands of dollars in salary and commissions. For example, if you direct a prospect to a competitive product you may lose the sale, but you probably will gain a customer, one who will trust you for honest and relatively unbiased advice on future purchases. In addition, you probably will earn referrals to the customer's acquaintances.
Each day is filled with hundreds or thousands of decisions, most of them small and inconsequential. Stopping for one donut probably won't redirect your life. But it still requires a decision. Others can be life changing, such as where to find a new job. The decision process includes identification of a need, criteria, research, analysis, and one or more choices. For example:
Identification of a need: You decide that a donut would satisfy both a need for sustenance and a desire for carbohydrates.
Criteria: You want a cake donut rather than a fried donut to minimize calories. You also don't want to travel too far for the donut.
Research: In your mind, you consider the donut shops located on your way to work.
Analysis: You remember that Dunkin' Donuts has more cake donuts than Krispy Kreme does.
Choice: You drive to Dunkin' Donuts and walk in. Uh-oh. More decisions!
Buying a boat is certainly a much more complex decision than buying a donut. However, the process is similar. Identify the need, develop the decision criteria, do the research, analyze the research, and make choices. There will be dozens of choices involving a variety of criteria: finances, dock location, number of passengers, typical use, speed requirements, and so on. That's where professional guidance comes in.
Your job as a Golden Rule Seller is to help your clients make the best decision for
