the moment they open their mouth...
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I am sure you know what I am talking about.
There have been times when I just waited for the sales rep to finish so that I could leave the room. I literally had all my attention on the wall clock of the conference room and wondered why were the hands of the clock were taking an inordinate amount of time to move!
At the same time, you also encounter some Sales Reps who know how to drive the discussion, so much so that you feel the meeting was worth your time.
There is one term that describes this.
Sales Presence.
It is this that makes the difference.
This helps you to get undivided attention and drive participation from your audience so much so that you are just a facilitator and the audience does all the heavy lifting which is driving the meeting ahead, following the agenda and even coming up with key action points.
Wow! How exciting it would be if everyone got that kind of Sales Presence where the audience leans in, pays attention and also pays money and enables the sale.
I know most of us to visualize such a thing to happen before the meeting but what happens is something totally different.
Any reason to be so?
And those of you who think that you need to be of a certain type to accomplish that then stop doing that to yourself as that is not the case.
You are fine as you are as long as you are clothed and have had your bath (men -shaved ).
Women, please drop that extra jewellery and over-makeup. Keep it subtle and you will look classy.
Men, if you are sporting a beard, keep it trimmed as you do not want to be perceived as some spiritual leader.
Sales Presence can be created by three things-
Be yourself - What do I mean by this? Do not try to fake your accent or project as someone else. My dad used to say, “Go in the disguise of yourself as everyone else is taken”. That was funny but it had a profound effect on me as being myself made me so much comfort in my skin, my accent and my being. I did not have to copy anyone.
Be Confident - While this sounds highly repeated what does it actually mean? It just means that be well prepared in your product, the competition, what impact has it had on your clients, what do they have to say about it
Do not go all over the place - WHat do I mean by this? In one of the recent meetings, the prospect hijacked the meeting and took it all over the place and missed discussing the main points. After the meeting, I asked myself “Hey what just happened?” Some of you can certainly resonate with me and this happens because we do not have a structure to the meeting. In order to have a structure, you have to set the context. This will also give a direction to the meeting and the prospect will know that you are serious and not just there too because you had nothing better to do in life. This happens more so with Startup Entrepreneurs as at times, we feel so grateful to just get a meeting that we let the prospect take the meeting wherever they like it. Understand this, your time is equally important as your prospects so set the context, have a structure and direction.
Conclude the meeting with a commitment for the next - Many of us have hurried to end. As a result, we miss asking for the next meeting and then struggle late. What if this was a part of the agenda, in that case, the prospect will also know that he has to give you a date for the next meeting, there is some commitment expected from his end too unless the product is a complete mismatch and hence they do not want any further discussion.
Listening Skills- I cannot emphasize this enough. Prospects give away a lot of clues, share plenty of their pain points, provided we have the ability to listen. Not just listen, but to listen with an intent to understand.
Do you want to know what other factors impact Sales Presence? Leave your email and we will send you the checklist.