Do Business Well

As sales are to business success, so then is enthusiasm to sales success. If you never get the hang of the rest of selling, you can get a long way by just exhibiting excitement about your company, your product, and yourself.

If you don’t think that your business is fantastic, a value to the community, and a work of art, why would you expect your custom_ ers to rate it more highly than you do?

If you’re not brimming over with enthusiasm for your product and the benefits it can bring to your customer, why would youexpect your customers to hand over their hard-earned dollars for it?

If you don’t believe you can add value to the product or service you offer, and that you are the best resource your customers canfind for what you sell, why, pray tell, should they think better of you than you do?

Unfortunately, there are plenty of people in positions of sales responsibility who think the products they sell aren’t a good value. They believe that their company rips off the public. Some barely have enough self-esteem to get them past the mirror in the morning.

You don’t want anybody like that working in your sales department, including yourself

My dictionary defines enthusiasm as “intense, high-wrought emotion that compels to action.” Every word in that definition deserves a look. A salesperson should be intense. He should believe in what he does with an almost religious fervor. This doesn’t suggest that there isn’t room for constructive criticism of product, company, or self. It does mean that when the time for criticism is over and the time to sell has arrived, a good salesman leaves his doubts at thedoor and goes into the selling situation believing wholeheartedly in what he is doing.

High-wrought is not a word I would have thought of myself, but I’m glad Webster put it there. The super salesperson creates an environment that compels the attention of his customer. Through eye contact, voice patterns, body movements, even theatrics, thebuyer should be grabbed by the presentation. Here are a few attention-grabbing approaches:

1. Surprise is probably the best way to keep your presentation exciting. I had a teacher once who during his first lecture to each class jumped on top of a table to punctuate a point. That was thirty years ago, and it is vividly implanted in my mind along with the point he made. In selling encyclopedias door-to-door there was a point in the canned pitch I learned where I would slam the book down on a coffee table or the floor. This was partly designed to show how tough the binding was, but mostly to increase the intensity of the presentation.
2. Magic is one of my favorite methods. Like a magician, I like to keep product hidden in my briefcase or sample bag until the last minute. I may even reach in to get it, and leave my hand with the product out of sight for a minute or so while continuing to build suspense.

Amway creates demonstrations of their products that are quiteamazing. The best I observed was one for a shoeshine spray. After wiping the dust off the customer’s shoe, and spraying this product onto the shoe, the resultant shine was absolutely magic.

1. Action is another intensity builder. I always encourage bicycle dealers to show how the parts work while showing a bicycle. Pick up the rear wheel and turn the cranks. Apply the brakes. Shift through the gears.

One part of action is involvement. The more that you ask your customer to actively participate with you in the presentation, the more likely you are to cause the intensity to be contagious. Give your prospect something to hold. Have him use your product. Let him turn the pages of your written material while you look over his shoulder or read it upside down.

1. Drama leaves a lasting impression. The more dramatic your presentation, the more you can control the emotion of the moment. For some this will mean lots of action, exuberance, and lighthearted fun. For others such as insurance salesmen, plastic surgeons, and undertakers it means being solemn, sensitive, and serious.

Use one of these ideas, all of them, or make up some of your own, but don’t let the customer set the tone of the meeting. You want upbeat, exciting, and positive, and it is up to you to create those moods.

There may come a day when you don’t feel particularly upbeat, exciting, or positive. What can you do on such a day? You need to develop the ability to be enthusiastic even when you don’t feel that way. Maybe you’ve just had a spat with your mate or one of the kids. Possibly your sales are off and you’re worried about your financial situation. There are many negative things in this world that will keep our enthusiasm in check—if we let them.

With all of that in mind, allow me to introduce you to (or remind you of) one of the most famous lines in salesmanship. It’s so oft repeated that I’m no longer certain who was the original author: “To be enthusiastic, act enthusiastic.”

This truth has many corollaries. If you’re in the dumps, the simple act of smiling will make you feel better. If you’re sick, watching the Three Stooges will help to cure you. Stressed out? Close your eyes and visualize your favorite vacation retreat.

Emotionally healthy people use these techniques and many others all the time to overcome negative emotions. Before you face a customer, you need to create a positive emotion—enthusiasm.

Greet your prospect with a warm smile and a handshake. When you’re dealing with a new customer, introduce yourself and ask for his name. Ask about his family or his business. As you create positive emotions, they are likely to be returned in kind. As you receive encouragement, you will feel better and better. Thus your original effort to act enthusiastic will begin to make you feel enthusiastic.

Why is it important that you feel genuinely enthusiastic? Because honest enthusiasm creates believability. Superior poker players can hide their true feelings. Most of the rest of us aren’t good at that trick at all. Thus, if we are not truly excited about what we are proposing, it will generally show right through.

People who are enthusiastic are more likable. Customers are much more prone to buy from someone they like. They feel compelled to buy from you to reward you for a good job of selling and to encourage you to like them.

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