Dear Archive Visitor, This month my husband, Jim, and I celebrated 19 years of marriage together. We are happier now than we've ever been and we attribute that to how much trust we've developed with one another. Of course developing a strong sense of trust wasn't the easiest thing to do. In fact, it was one of the most challenging things for us to do because we had to let go of our preconceived ideas and really listen to each other. This week's lesson is about the role that trust plays in the sales arena. Just like in a marriage, developing trust with a prospect requires letting go of your preconceived wants (to sell X amount of whatever) and really listening to your prospect. I'm also introducing a couple of fun new characters to the ezine. Let me know what you think about them.

Getting Prospects to Trust You By Tammy Stanley Do any of you remember reading Highlights¨ as a young child? If you do, you surely remember the little cartoons staring Goofus and Gallant. I thought of that today and it gave me a fun idea for the ezine Ð Clodia and Grace. Let's look at how each of them might handle a sales situation. Tonight both Clodia and Grace have a skin care demonstration scheduled. Interestingly enough they each encounter the same situation. At each of the demonstrations one of the guests says that she's never bought an entire skin care collection because she canÕt afford it. Clodia responds by saying: "Well when you see how great the results are from using all these products together, you'll be glad you bought the whole collection. Trust me." When Clodia looks away, the guest looks at a friend sitting nearby and proceeds to roll her eyes. Meanwhile, at the other demonstration... Grace responds by saying: "I can appreciate that. Some of my customers have been in that same boat. If you donÕt mind me asking, are you completely happy with your complexion or is there anything that concerns you?" The guest replies, "Well, I guess I have noticed that IÕm getting more noticeable wrinkles." Grace says, "Typically my clients have the most dramatic results by using the whole system, but I think youÕll be happy with the results you'll get from just using our Wrinkles Away night time cream. Maybe you'll feel more comfortable trying just one product before investing in the entire system." The guest says, "I don't know. Maybe it is time I give an entire skin care system a try." Probably the goal of most skin care consultants is to sell each of their prospects on using an entire skin care system. The customer ends up with products that are all designed to work together for premium results, and the consultant ends up with a decent sale. The key here, no matter what it is you sell, is to remember that different prospects have different needs and wants. By discovering what each prospect needs and wants and then recommending something that suits her, a prospect is far more likely to buy something, and often ends up buying precisely what you wanted to sell her in the first place. The reason Grace ends up selling an entire skin care system as well as the Wrinkles Away night time cream and Clodia doesn't is because Grace takes the time to address the one guest's needs. Then by addressing the need (a way to get rid of wrinkles) as well as the want (not wanting to spend a lot of money) in her suggestion, she gains the guest's trust. Clodia thinks the guest should trust her simply because she tells her to. While Clodia expects her prospects to trust her, Grace does what is necessary to earn their trust. There is a timeshare kiosk in the mall I usually go to. Naturally the sales reps are always hungry looking to approach people and present their irresistible offer to get a night free at a beautiful resort in exchange for attending a 90-minute sales presentation. Not long ago, as I was walking through the mall, I overheard one of the timeshare sales reps say to his prospect, ÒJust trust me.Ó Now you know where I got the idea for today's article! When I heard the sales rep say that, it was all I could do to not burst out in laughter at him. It is true that during the sales process you want to build an element of trust between the prospect and you, but blurting out, ÒJust trust me,Ó isn't going to achieve that. If anything, it has exactly the opposite effect. When you say, ÒJust trust me,Ó you obviously haven't figured out how the prospect truly stands to benefit from the transaction. When I heard the salesman at the mall say, ÒJust trust meÓ to his prospect, what I heard was, ÒI haven't done my homework about this thing I'm selling, but I really need to make a commission check today so just trust me.Ó I've found that one of the easiest ways to get a prospect to trust you as a salesperson is to momentarily forget about the thing you want to sell and discover first whether or not your prospect needs or desires what you're selling. The only way to do that is to get to know your prospect by asking questions. The other day while I was making prospecting calls (yes, I have to make prospecting calls too; I donÕt just talk about doing it), I really wanted to sell the VP of Events of a particular company on the idea of scheduling a meeting with me at an up-coming conference. But before I could do that I had to find out if she'd even be attending the conference. That sounds elementary, I'm sure, but it's just like the selling process I described above. If the VP of Events wasn't going to be at that conference, she wouldn't have the need to meet me there, would she? By taking time to ask her questions, I discovered that I had something more useful to offer for her situation. And if you're wondering whether or not I gained her trust -- She told me all about her Chihuahua-Yorkie that weighs 9 pounds and goes to work with her on occasion, she has no children, just broke up with someone whose last name was Butts (no kidding!)... do I need to go on, or have you figured out whether or not she trusted me? We can't expect our prospects to trust us until we give them a good reason to. That good reason is when we show that we're willing to put their needs and wants before our own (which is obviously to sell them something). How do we show that we're willing to do that? By listening to what they say and asking questions that correspond to their comments. WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE? WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR ON YOUR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Author, Sales Trainer, and Professional Speaker Tammy Stanley publishes the propelling 'Sales Refinery Insights' weekly ezine for direct sales professionals. If you're ready to jump-start your direct sales business, make more money, and create more value, get your FREE tips now at www.tammystanley.com/ezine/ezine_offer_ds.htm

If you're waiting for your October shows to generate bookings for November and December, I want to encourage you to try something different. Get on the phone this weekend and get at least 6 bookings for November and/or December. The reason I'm suggesting this is that the closer we get to the holiday season the more people start thinking, "I'm too busy to book a show." If you catch them before the holiday season, the booking they have scheduled with you will be part of the reason they'll think they're so busy this season. When you head off to your October shows, your calender will already be looking a bit full and women will be more inclined to book a show. In the direct sales business, your calendar is like the parking lot of a restaurant. The busier it looks the more people think, "This must be a good deal." Get on the phone for 40 minutes on Saturday morning and 40 minutes Sunday afternoon this weekend and begin to get your holiday season booked. If you haven't picked up your phone because you don't know what to say, pick up a copy of my, 10 Keys to Skyrocket Your Telephone Results today! You can download it on to your computer and begin learning those 10 keys in just minutes. Here are just a few testimonials from people who listened to my 10 Keys to Skyrocket Your Telephone Results tele-seminar: I just finished listening to your tele-seminar " 10 Keys to Sky Rocket Your Telephone Results," and I am so motivated to get on the phone and practice what I learned! I now realize the importance of a script (I used to wing it), the attention getting words and the Magic Word. You have a way of presenting that made me realize how easy it is if you follow these steps. You also have such a gift to make everyone feel important. This is some of the best training I've had. -Carole Scovill Freelife IÕve been to more seminars and been on more teleconference trainings than I can count that talk about how important a script is to business building. Your Ò10 Keys to Skyrocket Your Telephone ResultsÓ teleconference was the first one that actually gave me the tools to create a script that I wanted to use and was comfortable for the way I choose to work with people. -Kaye L. Lang Weekenders USA I really enjoyed your training seminar. I have zero sales training so I wasn't sure what to expect but I was more than satisfied with what I learned. I think for me the most important part was learning what I was doing wrong. You talked about mistakes that most new sales people make and I was making them. I was really excited to learn how to implement new techniques and strategies. I look forward to taking more of your training classes in the near future. -Nadine Ellerbrock TriVita Business Affiliates If you want to be able to get on the phone and get results quickly, you want the valuable information in this audio program. And you can be listening to it in minutes, since I'm offering it as a download audio product. You'll also receive a cheat sheet to use while listening to the recording. This makes it a breeze to take notes! You'll LOVE it. And you also receive the Sample Scripts bonus booklet. By just booking on show, you'll easily more than cover the cost of this audio program. Perhaps the real question to be asking yourself is, "What is it costing me to not feel confident about picking up the phone to call my prospects?" The longer you wait to call, the more money you let slip through your hands. Click on the link to be able to listen to this powerful audio today! 10 Keys to Skyrocket Your Telephone Results

Tammy Stanley, founded and directs The Sales Refinery, a sales training company that assists direct sales consultants to generate more business and build long-lasting sales teams through powerful marketing, selling and leadership strategies.

Tammy has been coaching and training since 1994 and has a deep understanding of the challenges and needs of the independent sales consultant. While raising four children, Tammy built a multi-million dollar direct sales organization, reaching her company's Circle of Excellence 7 consecutive years in a row. She earned numerous sales and leadership awards, world travel, and promoted 11 offspring managers.

The Tammy Stanley Sales Refinery
Tempe, AZ 85283
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