“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” — Theodore Roosevelt
I’m pretty sure that if you are in sales, you have heard the expression ABC—Always Be Closing. For me, I have always felt that this philosophy is a bit too pressure oriented and cold. If we are always “closing” for example, when do we find the time to really connect with our customers?
So instead, I have tweaked ABC to Always Be Connecting! I firmly believe that trying to connect with my customers will lead to far more sales than constantly berating them to close the deal at every turn.
When I began selling sheds 29 years ago, I was like a wolf hunting for prey. I would literally try to close customers before we even entered my office to discuss the details. I was relentless, and I made plenty of sales with that terrible approach.
One day, a light bulb appeared above my head, and I decided to soften my sales approach to one that required me to ask questions and actually listen to my customers and what they needed. Once I changed my approach of hunting prey to “connecting” with my customers, my sales went to a higher level, and I have never looked back.
You see, a person sold against their will is of the same opinion still—that is a powerful statement. What it means is when you pressure your customers and over-close them, you risk cancellations of orders and ill feelings toward you and your business.
We all have enjoyed what I call “easy closings.” These are the folks that know exactly what they want. They are the no-nonsense customer.
These customers have already done their due diligence. They already trust you and your business and have already read reviews and assessed your reputation. We all love this type of customer. Although the sale is inevitable with this type of customer, I highly recommend going deeper in finding out what drives and motivates them.
I look to connect with anything that will make the relationship even stronger for future business. I will find out when their birthday is and will actually mail them a happy birthday card to stay connected or send a text checking on them and the shed.
For my customers that will require more connecting (most fall into this category) to earn their business, I use F.O.R.M., which stands for Family, Occupation, Recreation, and Motivation. Some may recognize this from my Shed Coach presentations.
Once I get into a conversation with my customer, I will ask them questions like how many kids do you have, how long have you been married, what type of work do you do? Because most of my customers have jobs, kids, and spouses like I do, I immediately make a connection with them. Around 95 percent of the time, I’ll know someone that they work with, or they have kids that like the same stuff that my kids enjoy, and we get into a back-and-forth conversation.
Before long, the invisible barrier that exists between the customer and seller begins to dissolve to the point that it’s not a matter of “if” they are going to purchase a shed, but rather what type of shed they are going to purchase.
See the difference? The sale happened because you took the time to really connect and show interest in your customer.
A great example that I can share that happened to me recently was when I had a gentleman stop by who worked at one of the local factories and was pricing a rather large garage.
At first, he was all business. He was laying out exactly what they needed and didn’t care to tell me that he was “shopping around.” At a point in the conversation, I let him know that I had a friend who worked at the same factory, and he actually knew him well. Some coincidence, right?
We started telling stories and before you knew it, he had let his guard down and was way more comfortable. In fact, he picked up the phone and called the person that we both mutually knew and asked him point blank about me. My friend gave me a great review and when the phone call ended, the gentleman said that he was doing business with me. The power of connecting with you customer is absolutely real.
While all customers are not alike, and many other closing/sales techniques can apply, you must be able to connect with your customers in order to know why they are interested in your product to begin with.
In the end, I truly believe that the customer wants to be valued, cared for, and made to feel important. The more that you can connect with them, the better the experience will be for all involved.
Remember, almost everyone enjoys buying while nobody likes being sold. Connect, connect, connect.
