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Interactions
Guardrails #2
To continue with the guardrail conversation… setting boundaries.
A boundary that helps guide the conversation is the ability to say “No.”
Say NO when the client/customer asks for things that cannot be done – either within the current budget or timeframe.
Say NO when the client/customer asks for additions without adding to what they are paying for it.
Say NO when the client/customer asks you to ‘take it out of your commission’.
Say NO when the client/customer asks you to do something that you know is…
Guardrails #1
In the very simplest of terms, as a sales professional, our job is to make it easy for our customers/clients to say yes… and to buy from us.
To do that, we need to truly be responsible for the entire sales interaction and how it goes, and where it ends up.
Guardrails help that.
By guardrails, I mean guiding the conversation so that it doesn’t veer off course and stays in the lane for the intended outcome. Guardrails include asking questions that will direct the discussion and get the answer…
GRATEFUL SOLUTIONS
Consider the skill it takes to collaborate with a client/customer to find a solution that they can say ‘yes’ to. That skill takes practice to develop and a belief that the practice will enhance the interaction and the outcome. And that the practice of collaboration and problem-solving will lead to more effective outcomes.
If you are achieving that, it is because you chose to try something different… and were willing to be uncomfortable with the process (and yet trust it!) so that you could produc…
GRATEFUL QUESTIONING
How can we bring gratitude to questioning? When do we need it the most?
Let’s look at where questions start. Are they coming from a place of interest and helpfulness?
Are the questions originating from compassion and a desire to understand?
Are the questions courageous (tough to ask but we know we must) and considerate (asked in a
way that is respectful and kind)?
When a sales interaction is successful (in that it produced a sale or an appointment), take a moment to present and to be gratef…
GRATEFUL GREETING
This is where gratitude matters most…when we welcome clients, customers, and prospects into the showroom and collectively and individually create an environment that is warm and inviting.
Our thinking and conversations internally impact the experience that we create for our ‘guests’ and when we understand the impact that we have, we can be responsible for it and be
intentional with it.
What do you do to prepare yourself to be welcoming and grateful to incoming guests?
What do you do to rem…
Practice - the practice
It sounds funny…but practice is a practice. Medicine is a practice…as are yoga and meditation.
Practice practicing. Some of that is thinking of practice as a repetition to develop a skill. Or through practice, to develop an understanding of the nature of practice…the emotions that are part of it, the stages to be experienced, the discomfort and awkwardness that is PART of the practice and of development.
Practice allows us to build a relationship to discomfort so that we can see it for w…
Practice – the concept
Most of us would agree that to achieve excellence or to be good at something, we have to practice. Right?
We may have natural talent in an area of interest, but talent alone will only get us so far. To go beyond our innate skills, we’ve got to practice.
Conceptually, practice equates with something of interest. To invest the time to practice, we would need the desire to improve…to learn beyond what we know…to discover and expand our limits…to experience ourselves beyond who we know oursel…
Follow Up…enough to get a result?
As an industry, whether retail or trade home furnishings showrooms, we tend to be weak in follow-up. Not everyone, but as an industry, this is a shortcoming. Please consider that there is room for growth here.
Start by planning to schedule follow-up and outreach actions into your work week, not letting them fall into 'when you get to it' status. AND plan them at the best time to produce the desired action –to connect and to get a sale or an appointment.
Notice: When do you give up? When i…
Handling Objections…what is enough?
Let’s extend developing our questioning skills to include handling objections.
As we evaluate our relationship to objections, it’s important to look at the reaction to objections and the response to the objection. They are separate yet related actions.
Ask yourself: Do I really know what they are concerned about…or am I assuming I know? Do I accept their concern as valid – and maybe even agree with them? Do I understand their concern, and do I have a response to address it and move beyond i…
Connecting…enough?
I have been bumping up against the word ‘enough’ for a while now so I figured that there was a message for me to pay attention to!
Whether it’s gratitude for having enough or acknowledgment for being enough, I thought it might be time to take a look at where else 'enough' matters.
This year I modified the objective of Step 2 of “Sell it or Schedule it” - the step of Connecting and Building Rapport. I adjusted the objective of this step to be "To help the customer to be comfortable enough fo…
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