Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Turning it on for Customers. Toning is down for Clients.

The best sales professionals don’t have a ‘sales mode’.  They just speak with prospects and customers comfortably and informatively in line with a plan to move the conversation towards a close or repeat purchase.  That’s great for those blessed with the social graces and intuition necessary for this even-keeled approach to business development and retention, but we mortal product peddlers have to throttle up our pitch to compete for our piece of the action.  We know the scent of opportunity won’t linger forever in our waters, so we shift gears into ‘sales mode’ striking quickly and with full artillery.  Better to overwhelm the customer with the positive attributes of your product and personality than underwhelm and fail to capitalize. If it means layering on the schmaltz, fine.

The problem with ‘sales mode’ is that, while it’s great for bringing on new customers, it’s terrible for retaining them.  In other words, turning customers into clients.  Nobody wants to keep being sold after they’ve already agreed to the sale.  It’s annoying.  “I like you.  I like what you offer.  Quit trying to convince me or I might change my mind.”  The sale is made already, so your goal is now to keep them happy and buying.  It’s time to turn down the heat or risk burning them out. 

Drop the overly animated intonation, and quit trying to impress with tales of conquest in love, athletics and money (Recruiters and real estate brokers tend to be the worst offenders).  Instead, think like an old friend shooting the breeze and ask for an update on a personal matter mentioned during a side conversation.  Send a care package for no occasion other than that you thought they'd appreciate it.  Cut out the buzzwords too, like “motivational factors” and “missing the mark”.  Just stand behind your product as the person to speak with when needs change or problems arise. 

Nobody instinctively wants to change providers of whatever they’re buying.  But people buy from people they like, and likeability can be fleeting when eagerness isn’t.  Back off.  You’ve made the sale.  Now make a friend…or should I say, a client.   

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