Recently a door to door salesman came to my door. He opened the conversation with “Are you the home owner?” I really did not want to talk to him, so I admit it – I lied. I said “No, I rent” The conversation ended abruptly with an immediate retreat and a “Ok, thank you”
It got me thinking about how we are qualifying leads. Are we reaching them and proving to them we know their pain before we jump to the sale – or are we playing on on-line version of “whomever passes out the most business cards wins” – or are we so busy ‘qualifying’ we don’t take time to understand?
The door to door salesperson was trying to prioritize his time by immediately identifying me as a decision maker. I get that, and we do it all the time. After all, why waste time chatting with the “subordinates” when they don’t sign cheques? I’ll tell you why – because good leaders, the kind you want to do business with – listen to those “subordinates”. They regularly solicit opinions and referrals.
There is a reason we call this relationship based selling.
You absolutely have to understand your ideal prospects. You have to know their pains, their aspirations, their limitations and their goals. And you have to tell them that you do understand.
I’m not saying that the door to door salesperson could have sold me a new water heater on the spot – but I am thinking he could have at least said ‘hello’…
