Metamorphosis Consulting, Inc.

Management Consulting Firm

The Answer is Yes

by

When someone refers to you as a “salesman,” it usually isn’t considered a compliment.  The typical stereotype involving salesman is that they are aggressive, pushy, and primarily focused on making the next buck.  The stigma attached to being a salesman tends to make many good professionals wary of learning sales skills.

In reality, a good salesman is someone that is almost intuitive at identifying what’s best for their client, has a deep understanding of their product or available options, and can efficiently identify what makes the most sense for the client.  A top salesman can take away the pain associated with making a difficult decision.  This skill set is what allows top professionals to provide the highest level of service and a process that is enjoyable.

Once you’ve identified the solution to your clients’ needs, it’s important the options are presented properly.  One of the best approaches to making it easy for your client to arrive at the best decision is by using the “either/or” approach.  The trick to this approach is to provide options that allows for only a “yes” answer.  Consider the following examples:

  1. You found the perfect home for your buyer.  You replace, “do you want to buy?” with “do you want to present an offer that’s a little low, or would you prefer to make an offer close to the full price?”
  2. You’re on a listing appointment.  Instead of saying, “can we list the property?” you ask, “Would you like to get started right away, or would you prefer to put this in the MLS in a couple of weeks?”
  3. You’re presenting an offer to your seller and the buyer has offered a fair price.  Instead of saying, “this is a good price, you should accept it,” you ask, “does the closing date work for you, or would you prefer to move it up?”

In each of the above examples, the answer to every question is yes!  There still may be additional negotiation, but by virtue of the fact your client has already said yes, you’ve already laid the ground work for a positive outcome.  In each case, you’ve made it easy for your clients to move forward.