A man was disturbed from a Saturday afternoon in front of the TV by a door-to-door salesman.
"Good afternoon, sir," said the salesman cheerily. "I'm from BettaGardens. Now let me clear up right away that I'm not trying to sell you anything - it just so happens that we are working in this area at present. Having said that, I can't help noticing that your garden gate has seen better days. It's a bit old and rusty and is hanging there on one hinge: not very secure either in terms of the gate itself or in terms of protecting your property. So I am delighted to tell you that we at BettaGardens will be able to supply you with a free, top-of-the-line replacement gate."
And with that he handed the householder a glossy catalog.
The homeowner was suspicious. "A free gate?" he mused. "Where's the catch?"
"There isn't one," beamed the salesman.
"Well, a gate without a catch? That's not of much use to me then, is it?" the homeowner said defiantly, before slamming the door.
Moral of the story. True sales professionals realize that in order to close more sales instead of more doors, they need to have well-rehearsed answers to common objections. In addition, by having an open dialogue with prospects, rather than blurting out a canned presentation, you might be able to wedge your foot in the door, and produce much better results. Prospects prefer to be engaged in an interactive dialogue rather than preached at any day. Don't forget to empathize with your prospects, see yourself through your customer's eyes. If you fail to do this, you'll "gate" what's coming to you.
"Good afternoon, sir," said the salesman cheerily. "I'm from BettaGardens. Now let me clear up right away that I'm not trying to sell you anything - it just so happens that we are working in this area at present. Having said that, I can't help noticing that your garden gate has seen better days. It's a bit old and rusty and is hanging there on one hinge: not very secure either in terms of the gate itself or in terms of protecting your property. So I am delighted to tell you that we at BettaGardens will be able to supply you with a free, top-of-the-line replacement gate."
And with that he handed the householder a glossy catalog.
The homeowner was suspicious. "A free gate?" he mused. "Where's the catch?"
"There isn't one," beamed the salesman.
"Well, a gate without a catch? That's not of much use to me then, is it?" the homeowner said defiantly, before slamming the door.
Moral of the story. True sales professionals realize that in order to close more sales instead of more doors, they need to have well-rehearsed answers to common objections. In addition, by having an open dialogue with prospects, rather than blurting out a canned presentation, you might be able to wedge your foot in the door, and produce much better results. Prospects prefer to be engaged in an interactive dialogue rather than preached at any day. Don't forget to empathize with your prospects, see yourself through your customer's eyes. If you fail to do this, you'll "gate" what's coming to you.
"Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long
enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up
somebody." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
