Politicians can teach you some very useful sales techniques.
No, I'm not suggesting you start making promises you can't keep.
But pay attention to how skilled politicians and reporters ask questions, buy themselves time when answering difficult ones, correct a false premise, and redirect a conversation without sounding evasive.
There are some practical techniques there that you can use in sales conversations. Or any conversation, actually.
For example, what do you say when you need a few seconds to think before answering a tough question?
How do you respond when a prospect's question is based on information that simply isn't true?
And how can you feed someone's own words back to them in a way that helps them clarify and strengthen what they already believe, instead of you telling them what they should think?
That's what you'll see in today's lesson.
And there's a reason this one is a little different.
It's an actual chapter from one of my books
Yesterday I sent out the announcement that I am getting out of the physical book printing, storing, and shipping business.
So, right now I am liquidating the remaining physical books sitting in my warehouse, which you can pick up at a huge savings over what we sold more than 40,000 copies at.
The Redeeming Quality of Election Season: Sales Ideas
(Reprinted, Chapter 68, How to Sell More, in Less Time, With No Rejection, Using Common Sense Telephone Techniques- Volume 2)
Political campaigns seem to get more expensive and nastier with each election. And with them comes the rhetoric. Most of it is downright laughable, but some can provide valuable lessons for salespeople.
What I find particularly interesting are the questioning techniques used by the media and the way politicians deal with them.
Let's first look at some questioning ideas.
Questioning Techniques
Listen carefully and you'll find reporters posing questions to candidates (or their assistants) with the intention of placing words in the politicians' mouths, words that might not reflect their real feelings at all.
You'll hear such questions as:
“So, what you're saying is…”
“What's really happening here is…”
“Isn't this, then, really a matter of…?”
Of course, our objective as salespeople is not to trap someone into saying something they don't really mean, like many reporters do so they can get a good sound bite for the news.
What we can do, though, is help the person clarify, in his mind and ours, something they do believe but have not yet clearly articulated, or perhaps even given much thought to.
For example:
“Really, what you're telling me is that you've lost over 50 hours worth of production time just within the past month because of line problems. Is that accurate?”
“So what you're saying is that you could have had a slight profit instead of losing money last month, only if you would have…?”
“What I'm reading here is that you are leaning toward making a change. Is that accurate?”
It's also interesting to note how politicians respond to questions. This can make the difference between being perceived as a knowledgeable, sincere individual, or an incompetent goof you wouldn't even trust to wash your car.
Likewise, the way we respond impacts the way we're perceived.
Here are some techniques for answering.
When You Need to Buy Time to Collect Your Thoughts
Compliment the Questioner.
“That's a good question…”
or
“That's an excellent point…”
Comment on Their Questions.
“I must have touched on an area of interest, based on the number of questions you have.”
Defer the Answer.
“To give you the best answer, I'm going to need a few more pieces of information from you about the…”
When You Want to Avoid the Question, Or Shift Emphasis
Here's where the politicians are masters at tap dancing around the issue.
Not to suggest you should avoid their direct questions, but there are ways to answer difficult ones without doing too much damage to yourself.
Enlarge the Perspective.
“Really, that issue reflects the state of the entire industry, not just our company alone.”
Narrow the Perspective.
“I can't comment for every one of our over 20,000 customers, but the most recent survey completed by 1,000 customers shows a 99% approval rating regarding the chemical's performance.”
Shift the Emphasis.
“I'm glad you asked that, because it gives me the chance to point out…”
When Their Information is Inaccurate
If you detect their question is based on a false premise, say:
“To answer that, I must first fill you in on what's going on with…”
The next time you watch the politicians, don't just shake your head in disgust at how much of your money they pour down the drain every day.
At least listen to the questions and responses so you can use similar ideas to be a better salesperson and make a lot more money… even if they'll get more of it!
And Here's the Bigger Lesson
I wrote that years ago, but the questioning principle holds up just as well today.
In those examples, the salesperson never jumps straight to a recommendation. They feed back what they heard, help the buyer put words to it, and then ask them to confirm or add more.
Compare just stating "You're losing a lot of production time, we can help with that" to "Really, what you're telling me is that you've lost over 50 hours of production time just within the past month because of line problems, is that accurate?"
The first one tells the buyer what their problem is. The second lets them say it themselves, and hear themselves say it. That's the skill worth stealing.
And that's just one short chapter.
These two books contain 800+ pages of sales and prospecting ideas, examples, questions, word-for-word language, and techniques like these.
And right now I'm liquidating my remaining physical inventory.
And, at least as I'm writing this, I still have some copies of the third physical bonus book I'm including with the first orders.
Once those are gone, they're gone.
Go make it your best week ever!
