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At some time in a sales person’s life, she will have the following experience. You walk into a meeting with a “controller” type executive, who asks you “OK, what have you got for me?” He immediately asks this question, after greeting you and sometimes doesn’t even take the time to say, “Hello.”

No matter how you attempt to give a good direct answer to this question, you’re doomed to hear something like, “I don’t need that. What else do you have?” And you’ll be out of there in a few minutes wondering what happened?

A better way to answer his question is to segue into a question of your own. For example, a good response utilizes what I call “Say It/Ask it.” You respond with a general answer like “As I told you during our phone call we have advanced solutions to (give a general benefit of your subject) and to save us both some time, is it OK if I ask you a few quick questions?”

The idea is, you answer the other person’s question and then add a question of your own. Simply put, you say something then you ask something.

By using this response you’re back in control. Remember the person who asks the last question controls the conversation, not the person who does all the talking.

Some controllers get very annoyed by hearing your questions, so you may need to answer a few of his questions in a row, before asking one back to regain control of the conversation.

But If you answer directly,”What have you got for me?” you’ll find your meeting is very brief.

If you like this post, and would like to learn a lot more, you can read the first 16 pages FREE of my book, “Empathy Persuasion.”

When I first started in sales, my manager at New York Telephone instructed us to find something in the prospect’s or customer’s office that we could compliment. That could be a painting on the wall or an object on the executive’s desk, or an article of furniture in his office. I soon learned that wasn’t a great idea when I said how much I liked a particular painting on the wall across rom his desk. He replied, “It’s only there because my wife picked it out and I hate it.”

Through the years, I learned a much better approach that always got me off to a good start. It required a bit of research, however, in order to be effective. Nowadays, it’s easy enough to learn something about almost everyone, just by looking her or him up in LinkedIn or Facebook or Twitter, or going to the company website to learn something about her company.

Once you have learned something about the company or the person, you can easily use the You/I tool. This is simply starting out by saying something about the other person or her company, then adding something relevant about yourself.

Examples are:
“Your company has an excellent reputation as direct marketers.”
“I specialize in telemarketing myself and there may be a good fit for us to work together.”

“You have a great reputation as a man of integrity.”
“And my clients tell me they can rely on me keeping my word.”

“Your company has a great track record for being profitable.”
“That’s great because I love to work with successful companies.”

Using the “You/I” easily allows you to lead into some good probing questions.

If you to start out with “small talk” for a minute or two, that’s fine. Just be sure you start the business conversation with an appropriate “You/I.” Everyone likes to think the other person has heard some good things about him, right?

If you’ve enjoyed reading this and would like to learn a treasure chest full of great low-key selling and persuasion skills, you can read the first 16 pages of my book, “Empathy Persuasion” Free. Just Click Here to learn more.

The best sale I ever made was not the biggest, nor was it the largest commission I ever received. Actually, I received no commission at all. No, the best sale was one I made when I was training a salesman who represented one of my clients, selling a line of private security systems – burglar alarms.

I was on a training call with the company’s only salesman, Jerry. Jerry had been with the company for several months and the owner was concerned that Jerry was barely making a living, let alone making his quota. So I was hired to find out where Jerry was lacking and to correct it. The reason this was the best sale I ever made is that I made it to demonstrate to another sales person what could be done instead of quitting.

During the first 30 minutes of the sales call, I sat quietly while Jerry went through his opening remarks and then asked some good questions of the couple who lived in this comfortable, if small, home together. The object of his questions was to determine if there were any items of value in the home that the couple would hate to lose. The value could be intrinsic or sentimental to the owners. It didn’t matter.

It turned out that there were objects of value that the couple would hate to lose, especially the husband. Jerry learned that Richard, the husband, had spent a few years in Japan serving in the U. S. Army. While there, he had acquired a collection of porcelain dolls that he had shipped back home. The dolls had increased in value through the years. In addition Richard acknowledged he would hate to lose them because of their sentimental value.

He had enjoyed his time in Japan and his porcelain collection was a happy reminder of his days in the peacetime army.

Jerry closed by saying that for $300 now and $30 a month he would assure that his porcelain dolls and everything else in the house would be protected in case of an attempted burglary. Richard said it was kind of expensive and the monthly would add up. After a few feeble attempts to complete the sale, Jerry started to pack up his papers in preparation for leaving.

Jerry had done a reasonable job until this point, but he couldn’t close the sale. This was obviously his problem. There is a classic book on the subject by Elmer G. Leterman called, “The Sale Begins When The Customer Says No.” Jerry was quitting before the sale had even begun.

It was my job to help Jerry improve so I couldn’t just leave with him, so close to making the sale. Also, as an observer, it was obvious to me that Richard really liked his collection that reminded hm of his carefree days in Japan. And there was a part of him that wanted to protect his collection. So I said, “Richard, I’m curious: when you were in Japan what happened that made you want to take those dolls home?”

In all honesty, I don’t remember his answer but he went on for 15 minutes excitedly recounting his adventures in Japan. When he was finished, he turned to Jerry and said, “You know, I would hate to lose those dolls. Let’s write up the order.”

My question reminded him of his adventures years ago in Japan, and he connected his porcelain collection with those experiences. A few hundred dollars was a small price to pay to preserve those memories. Sometimes a good question is all you need to help a prospect sell himself.

If you’ve enjoyed reading this and would like to learn a treasure chest full of great low-key selling and persuasion skills, you can read the first 16 pages of my book, “Empathy Persuasion” Free. Just Click Here to learn more.

About 42 years ago, I was being interviewed by the sales manager of a business machines company.  He was a well-dressed man, about 40 years old, seated behind an impressively large desk.  He had quickly reviewed my resume without much interest and pushed an ordinary #2 pencil across the desk towards me.   “Sell me this pencil,” he said.

I picked up the pencil and turned it around in my fingers. There was nothing unusual about the pencil and I was taken aback by his request.  I would learn later that this tack was not atypical among many “old school” managers.  So I launched into some banal commentary about the quality of the lead and the eraser, its durability and handsome print output.  He gave me a few positives for creativity but my discourse wasn’t what he was looking for and I didn’t get the job.

My first reaction was maybe he was looking for a salesman who could sell “ice cubes to eskimos” or  “screen doors to submarine captains.”  In other words, was he looking for someone whose personality was so powerful he could sell something that the other person didn’t want or need?  I certainly wasn’t that kind of sales person and never aspired to being that kind.  But that was my first reaction.

With experience, I have since learned that he was probably wanting me to ask some questions first like “What kinds of things do you use a pencil for?” or “What’s important to you about the pencil you use?”  After I got answers to my questions, I would be in a better position to relate my particular pencil “solution” to his needs.  This is why it’s so important to ask good questions. 

It took a while but I learned to ask good questions, to probe well.

An entertaining example of this is illustrated by Hannibal the Magician.

Once you have asked all the good questions, you then have the background and relevant information you need to propose a solution which will help your prospect get what he needs that will help him.  And that facilitates you making the sale.

I take this one step further.  When you sell someone what he wants, you’re simply being an order-taker.  He wants something.  You have it.  He buys it.  When you sell someone what he needs, that is, when you help someone want what he needs, you’re being a professional sales person.

If you’ve enjoyed reading this and would like to learn a treasure chest full of great low-key selling and persuasion skills, you can read the first 16 pages of my book, “Empathy Persuasion” Free. Just Click Here to learn more.