Have you ever met a person that never stops trying to sell you on something? I ran across a guy recently that was that way and after spending 30 min with him I knew I never wanted to be like that. Sure I am salesman but I would like to think that my clients also look at me as a friend. Like with everything in sales, there is a time to sell and then a time to stop.
I think people appreciate the sales person that lays out the offering and then stops trying to convince you to buy it. I remember one time Elaine and I when to look at a timeshare for the one hour presentation. My gosh, the guy would not stop selling even after I told no. He was like a Gatling gun trying to convince me to buy his timeshare.
Integrity selling is a real term. It means that you get to know the person first and connect with him/her on a personal level before you try to sell them something. I believe that people buy from people they like and trust. For me it is really that simple. If a client doesn’t trust you, the conversation will never get past the sales mode. I would venture that a meaningful percentage of the hotels I have sold over the past 25 years came from a relationship that was formed out of the first meeting.
Two of my dearest friends in the world were both hotel buyers I met in the first 3 years of selling hotels. In both situations I was selling a hotel and called on them to see if they were interested. The relationship started and in both cases goes on even today. I would venture that these two people have sold or bought 40+ hotels from me. It all started when I was more interested in getting to know them personally than trying to sell them.
You don’t have be great salesman to be a great salesman. People can read honesty and integrity and usually choose to work with the people they enjoy being around and trust. KT