Building Relationships:

After years of study and exhaustive research we have finally found what appears to be the absolute worst sales “pitch” of all time. Here it is: “You don’t want to buy a vacuum cleaner, do you?” And to our shock and amazement, the fellow using that approach was actually selling some vacuum cleaners. But he was dedicated to his work and every morning when the sun came up he would be on that street corner downtown. Every person that passed by would hear: “You don’t want to buy a vacuum cleaner, do you?” And sure enough, some of those folks would stop and say, “You know, I have been thinking about buying a vacuum cleaner. What do you suggest?” The bottom-line is that any sales system or sales strategy will work—if you work it.

So the level of success that you achieve with your particular “system” is directly related to how committed to it you are. The success of your sales strategy is directly related to how hard you work it.

But there is one other variable in the “success equation.” And that is the Business Relationship. At some point in your sales system you have to build that business relationship. (And the sooner the better if you want the business.) Unless your name is Dot Com, the success of your sales strategy depends primarily on your ability to build good business relationships.

This is where behavioral style analysis, or Reading People, can put you way out ahead of your competition. Every behavioral style has certain behavioral needs attached to it. For instance—the D wants to make a decision—the I wants some energy and enthusiasm—the S wants safety and security—and the C wants all the facts and data to analyze.

These are general “tendencies” and can sometimes be modified by “life experiences.” I was in a very high-I’s office this afternoon and it was amazingly well organized. There was only one small stack of paperwork on the corner of his desk and the rest of the desk was clean. As we talked I heard how he had been in the Army and learned that a little structure and organization (everything in its place) helped you to work more efficiently and get more done.

But the idea is—that if you can read your client or prospect you can communicate more effectively with him or her or the group. You can avoid those areas that cause them stress (or point out how your competition is doing that to them). You can provide what they are expecting from you in that business relationship. And if you can read your client or prospect you will have a good idea of what kinds of products or services he or she has a natural tendency to buy or invest in.

I tell people all the time that they can improve their productivity by 25% to 50% just by trying to Read People. Here’s a process that you don’t even have to do it right to bring measurable gains to your bottom line. It’s because of what you have to do to read a client or prospect. To read a person’s behavioral style, you have to listen to them—understand their concerns—pay attention to what they are saying and how they are saying it. If you do that—your clients and prospects are going to love it. They won’t know exactly what it is you are doing but they will want more of it.

People do business with people they like. If you can read that person on the phone or across the desk, you can start building a successful, long-lasting business relationship right from, “Hello!”

Send me an email today and I’ll send you the People Reader along with the instructions.

Next month I’ll be talking about the importance of that second strongest behavioral characteristic, and how you can use that to lock their business into your book.

People do business with people they like.

Make sure they like you!

Remember, at Keese Consulting our future is invested in your success.

Make yourself a great day!

Ron Keese