Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

It's Only Common Sense: Make Them Want to See You

Editor's Note: To listen to Dan's weekly column, as you've always done in the past, click here. For the written transcript, keep reading...

Are your sales calls pleasant experiences…for your customers?

One of the things I look at when I’m interviewing a candidate for a sales position is likability. OK, I hear you groaning. You’re thinking, “What has this got to do with being a good sales person?”

Well, I’m glad you asked. Being likable has everything to do with being a good sales person. Think about it. Who would you rather spend time with? Someone who is pleasant, charming, intelligent and informative? Someone who is going to provide you valuable information, a solution to a problem or some ideas for making your business better? Or someone who is angry, constantly complaining about the economy, who only wants to talk about his goods and services rather than listening to you discuss your needs and your goals?

Pretty simple question right?

So, which type of person are you? Think about that for a minute. Be honest about it.

Just in case you might find yourself on the wrong side of this equation, here are some things for you to consider. Here is a list of things you don’t want to be:

1. You don’t want to be the kind of person who is constantly complaining about everything from the economy to politics to your own (heaven forbid) company. No one likes a person who does these things; no one wants to hear it. So don’t do it.
2. You don’t want to be someone who talks all the time, who is so busy trying to get his point across that the customer can’t get a word in edgewise. You know who I’m taking about:  the guy who raises his voice and gets a little louder when you do try to edge a word in, so that you’re wondering when he is finally going to stop to catch his breath so that you can tell him you’re very busy and have to go to an important meeting. He leaves you cursing the day you allowed him into your office in the first place.
3. You don’t want to be the kind of person who acts as if he has nowhere else in the world to go. He seems to settle into your office for the day with no regard whatsoever for your schedule. You know the type. Usually he will talk about anything under the sun just to rest his weary dogs at your place for as long as you’ll let him.
4. You don’t want to be the kind of person who knows everything… and I mean absolutely everything to the point where he stopped listening to everyone else years ago.
5. You don’t want to be like the person who takes phone calls in your office while holding up one finger to let you know he will only be a minute…for 10 minutes or longer.
6. You don’t want to be a lingerer. You know who I mean: the kind of person who is leaving for the next 30 minutes, hanging out at the door, jiggling his keys while he has just one more thing to say or one more question to ask. Please don’t be that person.
7. And you don’t want to be a repeater either. This is the person who says the same thing over and over, as if you’re either a child or too mentally deficient to grasp the pearls of wisdom he has been dripping on you for the past hour.

Instead, this is what you want to be: that person who makes the customer happy to see you. The person who is so upbeat and so full of useful information and viable solutions geared to help companies be successful that the customer welcomes you with open arms. You want to be the person that the customer actually looks forward to seeing on at least a weekly basis.

To be that kind of person, make sure to:

1. Always plan the meeting, knowing what you are going to say and how you are going to say it.
2. Know what you want to accomplish during the meeting. Set goals.
3. Listen to what the customer has to say with great interest. Be prepared to learn something. Ask intelligent questions and listen to the answers.  In short, be a great listener.
4. Bring something of value to your customers. This means understanding their needs so well that you are always able to offer something useful, whether it be an article about a pertinent subject of product or some information you saw about her company’s competition. Something useful.
5. Always be pleasant, upbeat, and respectful of your customers’ time.
6. Always recap the meeting verbally and then send a summary afterward.  Talk about the next step.
7. Set up the next meeting before you leave.
8. Leave them wanting more. Promise them something interesting for next time. Make them look forward to seeing you again.

If you do these things diligently, if you work on making yourself a useful, informative and interesting meeting mate, you will succeed as a sales person. People will want to see you, and they’ll want to do business with you as well. It’s only common sense.