At its core, selling is communication and persuasion. To accomplish this, we must be likeable people. This means that you don’t have the luxury of bringing your problems to work with you. When you arrive at work, everything else goes away. You put on your game face. You focus on your customers and clients. Your only reason for existence is to serve…not to be served.
In my work as a professional speaker I fly in airplanes a lot…over 100 times yearly. On occasion I have heard flight attendants complaining about their jobs and their work conditions. This is senseless, thoughtless, and counterproductive. Their complaining doesn’t solve any problems. It puts them in a worse mood. And the worse their mood, the worse the passengers’ moods will be. Then, the harder those same flight attendants will have to work to keep those passengers satisfied. A vicious cycle!
I suppose flight attendants can get away with this, because their pay isn’t based on commissions. But yours is. As a salesperson, you will make more sales if you are a positive, upbeat human being. I’m not talking about being phony. I’m suggesting that you treat your customers, as you would want them to treat you.
This means that you should strive to be likeable. Get into your client’s shoes. Learn what’s on his mind. Find out what motivates (and demotivates) him. Talk to him about what he considers important.
Actually this is pretty simple stuff. Being likeable requires only three things:
1) Be a nice person. Go out of your way to be kind. If your client likes football…talk football. If she is proud of her kids…never fail to ask about them…by name. If your customer likes desserts…show up with a slice of strawberry pie.
2) Be honorable. Do exactly what you say you will do. Don’t promise to show a house that you can’t arrange to get in. Don’t infer that the price is less than it will be. Don’t overpromise.
3) Smile. You don’t have to be smart, educated, or pretty to smile. This may be the most important thing you can do.