Selling 2.0 - The Intuitive Revolution
Are you paying attention and picking up your client's natural cues or are you getting in your own in the way of closing the deal? In today's hard-wired world you need to sell in a way that promotes communication and detects what your clients are really thinking.
Quick. What comes to your mind when you hear the word salesperson? Most likely somebody you'd like to avoid, right? Let's face it. The image of a salesperson has always had a somewhat sleazy reputation attached to it.
Well, not anymore. People are savvier than ever before. Today, it takes a lot more to close a deal than a slimy technique from a book written in 1954 by a guy in a checkered sportscoat. No, in today's hard-wired world, you need to sell in a way that promotes communication and detects what your clients are really thinking.
I like to call it "intuitive selling."
Intuitive selling is the art of knowing when your client is ready to make a move and when they absolutely need you to NOT push for the sale. Intuitive selling is about learning how to read body cues, language cues, and mood cues. Intuitive selling is understanding timing and how it works for your clients.
Let's start off with an example. An agent's phone rings. It's a potential buyer who asks about properties listed by this agent. They tell the agent that they are looking for a home in Happyville in the $400,000 range. They leave their email with the agent.
Now, the agent can handle this in one of two basic ways. One way is the traditional sales approach, which tells them to hammer them every day with new listings.
Let's say this is what the agent chooses to do. The agent sends them email after email, all to no avail. No response is received. The agent becomes frustrated. The agent gives up and stops sending them emails.
Now, let's look at how to handle the same situation using intuitive selling.
The client leaves their email address. The agent begins sending listings. The agent stops. The agent waits for a response. The agent picks up the phone and CALLS the client. The agent says, "So what do you think of the listings I've already sent you?"
They will respond in one of two basic ways. The first will be, "Thanks, I love what you've sent me."
Intuitive selling is telling you here that they are satisfied with what you've sent them, but they probably want you to leave them alone until they have time to digest all of it. It's a good idea here to lay low for a few days, giving them the time they need.
The other common response is, "It's okay" with a lackluster tone in their voices. Intuitive selling is here telling you that what you sent them wasn't quite what they were looking for.
This is a fantastic opportunity for you to say, in an assumptive way, "How would you like me to alter my search to find more closely what you're looking for?"
We've always been told we should never assume, right? But in this particular case, the assumption by the agent that he or she hasn't been searching correctly is a wide open door to communication with the client.
When phrased in such a way - putting all the blame for not finding the right property on the agent - the client can't help but feel good about what is being offered. Chances are very high that the client will say, "Well, we're looking for X style of home in this other nearby area."
This is the power of intuitive selling.
The problem I see over and over again is that agents are only listening to the words of the clients - while completely missing the secret messages being sent by their moods, their tone, or even by their lack of response.
Want another example? You have a home listed for sale. It's not selling. In fact, it's lingering on the market for way too long. So, you visit the seller to discuss reducing the price.
They emphatically tell you, "No, we will not reduce the price."
What do you do?
I can tell you that most agents will walk away. They will avoid having the tough discussion of WHY the price needs to be reduced. (Of course, if you've been sending them information on a weekly basis they will know most of this already.)
Intuitive selling tells you to read the subtle cues the client is trying to tell you about WHY they won't do a price reduction. It's your job as an agent to dig and uncover this information.
When you watch how a client reacts to every action you take, it's amazing how much you will learn about them. When you learn to pick up on these subtle cues, you are way ahead of the old-school selling game. You become a master communicator who deeply understands people and who can make recommendations based on what they really want.
Apply intuitive selling to your business and watch your sales figures grow.