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Kelly Kasabian
April 3, 2007, 03:09 PM
Gordon -

I was hoping to see others list their trials and tribulations in sales, but I suppose I'll be the first -

Like you, I've been schooled in both types of sales styles ... I have to admit, I'm of two minds on them both because I've found results in both - from the classic "this is a battle where one person wins"/"people WANT to be seduced" stuff ...to the soft-sell "I'm here to help the prospect make an informed buying decision in order to help them" ...

...my situation pales in comparison to yours - but it was some years ago when I was doing healthclub sales ... I was touring this prospect around the club and in every possible way she was making negative, critical comments: "is that all the classes you have?" ..."the weight room isn't very big" ..."the ladies locker-room is tiny" ..."the pool isn't even olympic size" ....

...I just grinned, gritting my teeth actually ...and kept as positive as possible realizing she just wasn't going to enjoy the place ...

...so I broke the pattern after one last negative comment - in mid-step I turned, stopped and said in a very nice, kind, caring way "I'm thinking we may not be the best for you... here - c'mon in my office - I'm going to get some info for some clubs I'm familiar with that you may enjoy better" ...

...she was so surprised by this that she tried to regain control by saying ..."well ....why don't we go over your prices first?" ...

...I gave her the details - and she said "Okay ..when can I start?" ...

Classic take-away ...but I have to admit - that's not where my mind was - like you, I really just wanted the person to end her tirade of negativity and maybe find a place more suited to her (also - I really didn't want to give her the chance to say "no" ...yeah - a bit silly on my part - but I'm human too) ...

...now conversely - I had this other person come in just a few days later - gave her a very soft-sell show around ...asked her questions about what she liked, what she didn't like - her history (all the classic "find out the 'unwanted condition' " questions) ...she seemed to love it ...but she didn't buy...

...later when I followed up with her, I found she joined with a real hard-sell health club ...and she said outright "they really kinda' pushed me into seeing how important it was that I not put off joining"....

...the classic "people sometimes WANT to be seduced"....

...so that's my experience ... of course - honestly, it all depends on the market and the prospect ...on one hand I'd prefer to deal with soft-sell, but I know some markets require a harder approach.

Thanks for listening ...let's hear from some other sales veterans - ey?

KK


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