How to be a Professional Salesperson.©
Free Sales Training Video Series – Men and Women
Men and Women
Some people like to buy from women. Some people like to buy from men. It’s not sexist. It’s just a fact. I learned this from working with the same woman in our sales group, for many years. It actually happened by accident. I was working with a male prospect and I just couldn’t get anywhere. She suggested she should give the guy a try. I agreed and she closed the sale. We tried it in reverse with me taking over one of her tough female prospects, which also ended with a sale.
After these first experiments, we started trading any prospect with which one of us could not get anywhere, regardless of the gender. Aside from the gender issue, some people simply tended to buy from sales people with personality type A, while others tended to buy from sales people with personality type B. I always believed that connecting with people and building rapport was a “chemistry” issue. I just didn’t realize how much it could impact my sales.
If your sales management will allow it, I suggest setting up your own prospect trading system. It takes checking your ego at the door, but it can really boost your income. Here are few keys to making it work:
- It needs to be fair. Nothing is perfect but you have to make an attempt to trade a prospect with “prospects.”
- If you know, they should have as close to as possible, equal values in sales revenue potential.
- Set a time limit before you give back the prospect or pass them along to another sales rep.
You may be concerned that customers will protest to being “passed around.” The strategy above should not be done with customers, unless there are extenuating circumstances or the customer asks for a new sales rep. Customers need and appreciate the consistency of having the same sales rep for variety of reasons. But prospects are different. They are future customers just looking for their preference.
