HOW TO WIN MORE AND BETTER CUSTOMERS: DO IT LIKE BERNIE

A few years ago there was a comedy movie called "Weekend With Bernie". Bernie has died, but his friends, for reasons of their own, have dressed him up to look as if he's alive. In one scene a very dead Bernie 'negotiates' with a car salesman. Bernie beats the saleman down by thousands of dollars, simply by saying nothing while the salesman keeps on talking. At the end, the salesman congratulates Bernie on being one of the toughest men he's ever had to negotiate with!

It's a comedy, of course, but there's a lot of truth in that scene. Good sales people know that there are times when they need to keep their mouths firmly closed. This can sometimes be an excellent tactic to use in negotiating prices, as per Bernie's experience. But there is another time too when listening is better than talking: when we are getting to know a prospect and building their trust.

Skilled sales people know that it's critical to get to understand their prospect and what makes them tick before trying to sell anything. By doing so they more readily win the trust of their prospect; but even more importantly, they know what is important to the prospect and what part of their sales offering is going to be of most value to them. As a result, 'selling' turns into 'helping', and the operation becomes a win-win for both parties.

Most of us in network marketing are not really skilled sales people, and we have in our minds the idea that selling means 'closing', which in turn means getting people to buy something they don't really want. Consequently we tend to do it all wrong, and often feel pretty uncomfortable in the process.

We tend to gush forth with masses of information about our product range, our company, our business opportunity or our compensation plan, without the slightest idea of whether all or any of this information is really of interest to the prospect If we do this, we are taking pot luck on the outcome. and nine times out of ten we'll get it wrong. Little wonder that we don't convert too many of our prospects into customers...

The professional way is to take as long as necessary to get to know the prospect, their background, their interests and their needs. Just about everyone enjoys talking about themselves, so by listening rather than talking we're actually likely to make genuine friends out of our prospects.

Once we understand the needs of our prospect, it becomes very easy to decide how best our offerings can address those needs and present accordingly. If we put ourselves in the shoes of our prospect, we can readily understand that the prospect now has two excellent reasons to buy from us. Firstly, we are offering something he or she needs. Secondly, they're buying from someone they trust as a friend. Suddenly the probability of conversion becomes VERY much greater and things are much more pleasant for everyone.

None of us wants to be like Bernie - dead, that is. However if we could all listen to our prospects like Bernie, and then THINK before talking, we'd be much more likely to be successful network marketers.