Best laid plans can go right out the window any time another person is involved! This is as true in sales as it is in other areas of our life. Improv training provides some great sales tips for dealing with anything we hadn’t planned for — whether it’s an unexpected objection or an impromptu elevator pitch. Last week I introduced the First 3 Rules of Improv: Know Your Material; Fire the Editor and Be in the Moment.
The next 3 Rules have proven especially helpful in my sales presentations and client meetings. I hope you find them useful as well!
- Commit to Your Choices
Commitment? Yikes! As salespeople we reserve the right to change our opinion based on what the client thinks, right? Wrong! See your choices through; don’t be batted around by every wind. You may not win everyone over, but you’ll win something that is too often overlooked in sales: self respect. - Use Your Mistakes
Botched presentations? Persistent interruptions? ? Forgotten brochures? Great! As they say in Improv: “Use it!” Often the unexpected can prompt new discoveries and opportunities if we go with it rather than fight it. Besides, the fact that we’re fallible makes it easier for people to connect with us. Quit trying to be the perfect “sales clone.” A mistake isn’t a big deal unless you make it one. So laugh at yourself. Use your mistakes as best you can and move on! - Say, “Yes and…”
In Improv as in sales, you must always keep the action moving forward. A key tenet of Improv is that no matter what your partner gives you, you reply with “Yes, and…” For example, lets say your client tells you that they have never bought anything but product X. Instead of saying “Yes, but you’ve never tried our product,” (which instantly puts them on the defensive), you reply: “Yes, and that’s why you don’t have anything to compare it to.” In a sense, you’re agreeing with them, taking their point in, and offering them a different perspective without getting their defenses up.To learn more about Improv check out this site: Improv Encyclopedia
No comments yet.