How to avoid skepticism in a crowd

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How to avoid skepticism in a crowd Copyright © 2006

Maybe you have relied on things like Customer Dinners or Customer Appreciation Days etc... These are events that bring groups to you, with referrals in hand. Think of the beauty of having a referral come to a function, of seeing a whole bunch of happy campers. The "safety in numbers" syndrome will alleviate all of the skepticism they may have brought with'them, I assure you. People will correctly assume that if all these others like you, then you must be legit.

Get the objections out of the way, right away. There is a very common, but erroneous, assumption in marketing that you should never bring up anything that's negative. That you must always be "perfect." Well, I got some bad news for you. You aren't, and your prospects know it.

Therefore, one of the best things to do in any marketing piece is to admit your faults and explain why they will not be a problem. For example: The "professional" thing to say about an independent, smaller company is usually, "We offer the highest level professional service, in a personal way. "

Instead, how about admitting that being small has some draw backs, but that the benefits outweigh the weaknesses? Like, "Yes, we are small, and we might not have the resources of a huge company, but we can look at the very small tasks, while taking care of you in a personal way that no big company could ever do."

See the difference? By admitting to your fault, you make prospects feel that you are legitimate, and not full of typical hot air. Do you think this type of admission will help reduce skepticism? I don't think it does; I know it does!

The same idea applies to telling people you won't be trying to sell them anything at the first meeting, and then keeping your promise. If they still have doubts when they come in, if you do the psychological interview the right way, you will have wiped any skepticism right off the brain.

Remember, in order to keep skepticism out of the way, you cannot start selling at the first meeting. You cannot! I still hear from some of you how prospects say, "I just want to buy for the lowest price, so whad'ya gonna do for me?" And, of course, a salesperson cannot stop and say, "Let's talk about your overall situation first, before we discuss any specific ideas."

No, the salesperson or business owner starts selling, like everyone else, and blows the whole deal. People will just listen to the pitch. And since you haven't done squat to alleviate skepticism that you're nothing more than just another salesperson, the prospects will also do the usual shopping, delaying and time wasting. .

Now, on the other hand, if you prove to them you are not a salesperson, they will have revised their mental impression of you and put you in the believable category. This is very important, because believability equals trust. And trust equals money.

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