Interview opening

…and if it doesn’t seem like a fit at any time during our interview, could you or I just be honest and call it? I’m interviewing with a few different companies trying to find the best place for my career and I’m sure you’re talking with a bunch of different candidates as well, trying to find the best fit for your position. The worst thing either of us could do is let the other one think there may be a chance of working together when there really isn’t one, fair?

 

Stop announcing your honesty!

How many Salespeople, when asked a question of remote importance lead with the standard, “I’ll be honest with you…”?

You know what your prospect hears when you say that?  You got it.  The opposite.

Have you ever met an honest person that repeatedly has to announce they are being honest?  Me neither.

That line…is a credibility killer.

Honesty is demonstrated in 7 ways (without you having to blatantly announce it):

1. Doing what you say your are going to do.  If you just met the prospect, this is revealed in the third party stories you weave into the sales interview.  On repeated appointments, it is the proof you provide to back up what you claim.  Always better to under-promise, over-deliver.  Many lead with the opposite.
2. Being prompt.  Whether it’s the first call, a call back, or with information you couldn’t answer at the time they asked…getting back in a timely fashion seems to be a growing complaint among prospects despite technology that says we should be better at this than ever.
3. Demonstrate technical proficiency – Relationships are critical and I do submit that on anything other than price, people still buy from people they like.  However, don’t lose sight of the fact that people love to brag about something that one-ups everyone else.  A new driver that gives them 15 more yards off the tee.  A 4g connection vs. 3g.  A flat screen with better resolution.  A new Apple anything.  If you give them something to brag about, they’ll be your biggest fan.
4. Show humility.   While your competitors answer every question and always come off as perfect, you shouldn’t.  Admit a few errors…you have learned to better serve your customers.  Admit that you don’t always fit for everyone, but of the people that do buy, many are very happy as shown by your retention rate.
5. Avoid being defensive.  Defensiveness usually indicates guilt.  If everyone was perfect, there would be no competition.  Rarely will a prospect ask tough questions of a company they have little interest in doing business with.
6. Take the high road with competitors.  Customers like dealing with ethical companies.  Many salespeople make the mistake of dogging the competition when the prospect throws red meat on the ground.  The pros avoid this kind of talk and instead find ways to compliment the competition.  What usually happens next?  You get to hear the prospect taking your competitors down a few notches for you.  That is strong.
7. Err on the side of conservatism when toting your product performance.  My old company made over 600 sku’s for the construction industry.  Each product had their own technical data sheet detailing the lab performance results so customers could better make an informed decision.  One of my biggest frustrations initially was fighting competitors that I felt fudged the numbers, while we erred on the side of conservatism.  Inevitably, customers would always call me back and say, “Joe, your data sheets are wrong…we bought your product and gained 800 psi over what your lab expected”.  In head to head competition and if the deal was large enough, customers would test my competitors products against my own, and against our data sheets.  The ones that fudged things had a hard time ever getting back in the door.  I would recommend you do the same.