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How to avoid skepticism in a crowd
Copyright ? 2006


Maybe you have relied on things like Customer Dinners or
Customer Appreciation Days etc... These are events that bring
groups to you, with referrals in hand. Think of the beauty
of having a referral come to a function, of seeing a whole
bunch of happy campers. The "safety in numbers" syndrome
will alleviate all of the skepticism they may have brought
with'them, I assure you. People will correctly assume that
if all these others like you, then you must be legit.

Get the objections out of the way, right away. There is a
very common, but erroneous, assumption in marketing that
you should never bring up anything that's negative. That
you must always be "perfect." Well, I got some bad news for
you. You aren't, and your prospects know it.

Therefore, one of the best things to do in any marketing
piece is to admit your faults and explain why they will not
be a problem. For example: The "professional" thing to say
about an independent, smaller company is usually, "We offer
the highest level professional service, in a personal way. "

Instead, how about admitting that being small has some
draw backs, but that the benefits outweigh the weaknesses?
Like, "Yes, we are small, and we might not have the
resources of a huge company, but we can look at the very
small tasks, while taking care of you in a personal way
that no big company could ever do."

See the difference? By admitting to your fault, you make
prospects feel that you are legitimate, and not full of
typical hot air. Do you think this type of admission will
help reduce skepticism? I don't think it does; I know it
does!

The same idea applies to telling people you won't be trying
to sell them anything at the first meeting, and then
keeping your promise. If they still have doubts when they
come in, if you do the psychological interview the right
way, you will have wiped any skepticism right off the brain.

Remember, in order to keep skepticism out of the way, you
cannot start selling at the first meeting. You cannot! I
still hear from some of you how prospects say, "I just want
to buy for the lowest price, so whad'ya gonna do for me?"
And, of course, a salesperson cannot stop and say, "Let's
talk about your overall situation first, before we discuss
any specific ideas."

No, the salesperson or business owner starts selling, like
everyone else, and blows the whole deal. People will just
listen to the pitch. And since you haven't done squat to
alleviate skepticism that you're nothing more than just
another salesperson, the prospects will also do the usual
shopping, delaying and time wasting. .

Now, on the other hand, if you prove to them you are not a
salesperson, they will have revised their mental impression
of you and put you in the believable category. This is very
important, because believability equals trust. And trust
equals money.