You customer is, by nature, an extremely emotional creature.<\/p>\n
When making a big-ticket purchase, even normally stoic and even-keeled people feel a keen sense of heightened emotional response. And why not? Parting with a large chunk of hard-earned cash for a life-altering purchase calls for some emotion!<\/p>\n
Which is why you, the sales person, play such a key role in the buying process. Big-ticket purchases come with certain built-in\u00a0service needs for your customer. And the best\u00a0sales people meet these needs with grace and skill.<\/p>\n
I recommend that big-ticket sales people assume the role of ‘Assistant Buyer.’ If I, as a sales counselor, understand you, the\u00a0customer, extremely well, I can offer insight, suggestions and guidance that are in your\u00a0best interest.<\/p>\n
I exist to help you\u00a0buy.<\/em><\/p>\n The Assistant Buyer paradigm assumes that the sales counselor exists\u00a0 for the customer<\/em>, not for themselves. Many sales people find this to stretch their thinking quite a bit, especially those who believe that sales is something they do to<\/em> their customer rather than for<\/em> and with<\/em> their customer.<\/p>\n The Power\u00a0of Trust<\/strong><\/p>\n The sales process is a partnership. Think about that word,\u00a0partnership<\/em>. It\u00a0implies some degree of \u00a0trust between partners. Whether\u00a0these are business partners, marital partners or tennis partners, a partnership is, by definition,\u00a0a trusting relationship.<\/p>\n As we all know, building trust is a process.<\/p>\n When I talk about building a trusting relationship with your customer,\u00a0\u00a0I am not necessarily talking about building the type of friendship where you want to go camping together (though it happenS!).<\/p>\n Instead, we need to establish enough of a relationship that your customer knows\u00a0 that you actively seek their best interests.<\/p>\n Think of it this way: would you buy a car from your brother-in-law? How you answer that question depends on your relationship with your brother-in-law.<\/p>\n Some of you automatically thought, \u201cAbsolutely!\u201d Others immediately thought, \u201cNot in a million years!\u201d<\/p>\n Odds are that your response is directly proportionate to the amount of trust that exists between you and your brother-in-law.<\/p>\n You may react\u00a0 negatively not because you believe\u00a0your brother-in-law will rip you off, but because\u00a0you know that he is\u00a0not competent to assist you in this area.<\/p>\n Similarly, your customer will evaluate both your emotional intelligence and<\/em> your competency as the two foundations of a trusting relationship.<\/p>\n The trust relationship you\u00a0develop with your customer becomes the platform on\u00a0which you build your entire<\/em> sales presentation.<\/p>\n No trust = no credibility = no influence = no sale.<\/p>\n In addition to expert knowledge about your industry, work to add understanding of the emotional nature of big-ticket buying.\u00a0Then, assume the role of \u201cAssistant Buyer.\u201d<\/p>\n Equipped with these tools and this perspective, you will\u00a0change your customer’s\u00a0world.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Assistant Buyer paradigm assumes that the sales counselor exists for the customer, not for themselves: “I exist to help you buy.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":13483,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n