How to destroy sales rapport real fast!
As a sales motivational speaker I get the pleasure of working with thousands of salespeople every year and I get asked about many sales training challenges that they face. One area that rears its ugly head quite frequently is the act of reaching and building rapport with senior decision makers.
Many succesful salespeople who prospect new clients effortlessly every day can be pushed out of their comfort zones by asking them to contact CEOs, MDs and COOs. The ability to find, locate and build rapport with senior decision makers is critical if you want to be a sales superstar.
Unfortunately, many mistakes are made in this area as many salespeople freak out when they are faced with a senior decision maker. Here are 9 mistakes that can put a downer on your meeting fast.
- Trying too hard to get rapport. Desperate is not attractive and shows you up as junior and less important than them.
- Talking to them in too much detail. Too technical, too detailed, too many buzz words. Confusing your CEO is not a good plan!
- Criticising anything, anyone and particularly your competitors! Good salespeople do not have to criticise others. The value they add speaks for itself.
- Telling secrets that should be kept. Senior decision makers will not engage with you if they fear that you might disclose confidential information.
- Assuming business rapport is personal. Business rapport = trust + confidentiality. That does not make you best friends.
- Being late for your appointment. Senior decision makers are protective of their time. Keep them waiting at your peril.
- Being indecisive and negative in your outlook. Senior decision makers make decisions. They like people who do the same.
- Talking rather than asking questions and listening. Many salespeople talk too much when nervous. This will destroy your credibility.
- Asking questions, asking for commitments or closing at the wrong time. Senior decision makers are just that, decision makers. Do not bully them into making decisions. They won’t.
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Thanks Gavin, good advice. I’m about to do 3 seminars at a major dealer convention for the first time next week. I normally speak to people at or below my level, but this event will be filled with ceo’s and owners. Any advice on the public speaking end to this group?
Thanks again
Thanks for the comments Chuck. You ask a great question and it’s one that more salespeople would benefit from asking…
The key to making a powerful presentation lies in knowing your audience. The more that you know about them, the more easily you will connect with them and the easier it will be to move them to take action.
Most salespeople and business owners make the same presentations over and over irrespective of the seniority, knowledge, needs or interests of their audience. Start by asking yourself who your audience are – find out as much as you can about them. Once you fully understand this ask yourself why they are in your presentation, what will be of interest to them and what will add value for them.
You need to figure out not only the right material but the right level of detail too. Too much detail and you lose them, too little and you look a fool. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to sound intelligent – great presenters make complicated material sound easy not complicated. CEOs will not thank you for complicating their lives! The trick is to talk to them at the level that they talk to each other and with just the right level of detail and content.
Finally, think about how you can engage them and hold their interest, how to get them involved in your presentation and what you want them to do as a result of being in your presentation.
You might also want to check out this article on Perfect Presentations. I cover a lot of this stuff in my Powerful Presenting programmes. Good luck! I’m sure that it will go fantastically.
Gavin
Great article. I have linked to it from my latest blog carnival (http://cindyking.biz/international-marketer-review-blog-carnival-18/)