Saving the Prospects from Themselves

In a recent Southern California sales training session that was focused on improving negotiation skills, I was playing the role of a pushy prospect trying to squeeze another thousand dollars out of a deal. I had this exchange with a superstar salesperson:

Prospect (me): “Are you really going to let me walk away from this deal over a lousy thousand dollars?”

Salesperson: “Are you really going to walk away from your dream home over a lousy thousand dollars?”

He went on to point out that walking away meant buying a different home that was clearly not my number one choice. The implication was that if I took the deal from another builder who offered a higher incentive I would be flat out buying the wrong home!

The message to me is this: we have to come to grips with the fact that customers act in the manner they have been trained, but that doesn’t make it right. The sales professional must always consider the question, “What is in the best interest of this customer?”

Sometimes, it’s in the best interest of the customer to save them from themselves!