MoneyMaker #98: 90% of Leadership is Standing Up and Saying, “Follow Me!”

Understanding how to lead our customers with our speech is key to great selling. You are asking your customers to follow your advice. You are asking customers to take risks based on your advice. Don’t shy away from being a leader. The only option is to lead.

The Leadership position is where professional salespeople want to be. This is where the customer trusts you to make the best decision for his business. You have past the tests. You have made him a friend or at least a trusted confidant. You have also proven to him over time that you will do what is right for his business. You have proven that you will be competitive on an ongoing basis, but more importantly, you will bring his company value now and in the future.

Want to learn more about this and other Sales Doctor secrets? Click here to buy Selling Lumber: Sales Secrets of a Lumber Broker and tune in each Friday at 4pm PST to the Sales Doctor Radio program. In Portland on 1410 am or around the world online at SalesDoctor.biz.

Wendy Werris, author of An Alphabetical Life will be on the Sales Doctor Radio Program today at 4pm. Wendy has been in book sales for over 35 years and remains one of the industry’s strongest sellers. Join us today as she talks about building seller/client relationships, sales strategies, and buyer perception.

Do we have a definition of who we are? Can we explain in one sentence what we do and what the benefit to the customer is? Is our message clear and inspirational?

Leadership Law #2

Leadership sellers know who they are and can communicate their message in a clear and inspirational way.

Inspiration Vs Information

Many sellers communicate only information to their customers. Our customers can get information from the internet, they are looking to us for inspiration. What do I mean? Many of us are just giving informational answers to our customers’ questions. This is not enough. Leaders inspire. Are we inspiring our customers?

Example:

Customer: “Can you find me a house in a good neighborhood, with good schools, that isn’t too expensive?”

Quotron Unit: “Yes.” (Informational)

Leader: “Mrs. Customer. I can see that good schools, a good location and a reasonable price are important to you. After our in depth discussion, I feel I have a very good idea what you are looking for. I have a couple of houses in mind for you already. Let me do a bit more research based on our discussion. I will then work up a plan that will allow us to see the largest number of homes that fit your criteria as possible and we will meet tomorrow to visit them. Is one o’clock early enough for you?” (Inspirational)