Be Useful, Not Enthusiastic, Please

You've probably had this same experience before.

I know I have.

And it frustrates me whenever it happens.

And there is an important sales lesson in this story.

Last night I went out to dinner with a buddy.

We went to one of our favorite local steak houses.

After looking at the menu, which I have read many times before, I narrowed my choices down to three different steaks.

My friend narrowed his choices down to the two fish items on the menu.

The waiter came - I mean our "server" - with political correctness abound these days, *someone* is sure to get offended by such a gender oriented term as "waiter". But I digress. Back to the story…

The waiter came and my friend asked him about the two fish choices.

Oh they're both very good.

My friend gave me a strange look.

I asked about the 3 steaks.

Oh, New York, Rib Eye, Filet… they are all very good.

I gave my friend a strange look back.

So silently and simultaneously, we both made our choices. And then we placed our orders with the waiter.

The frustrating thing was that this guy was not helpful.

Why, I am not sure. He has worked at this established, popular local steakhouse for a long time. So he either is jaded and thinks the food sucks. Or maybe he's a vegetarian, and doesn't eat the food there (in which case, why work at place you don't like?).

Anyway, both of our dinners came, and they weren't "very good". They were mediocre. Not awful, but not great either.

A good waiter is a good salesman.

And a good salesman is USEFUL to his prospects.

I can smell false enthusiasm at a 100 yards. And I am sure you are pretty good at recognizing it too, as are most of your prospects.

So drop the fake enthusiasm when you selling. Instead ask questions of your prospects when they ask questions of you.

Find out the reasons behind their questions and become useful to your prospects. They want to have you sell to them when you help them in this way.

Sell with Pride

Shameless Shamus Brown

P.S. Stopping your knee-jerk reaction to answer with certainty and enthusiasm is not easy, but it is essential to becoming a top salesman. Discover how easily you can take control with your questioning with the Persuasive Selling Skills Audio Program right now.