Copyright © 2006 by Michael Boone & Associates · All Rights reserved
People Resist Being Told What To Do
Michael Boone & Associates Newsletter
Why People Resist August 15, 2005
• What might stand in the way of Developing Trust
• Developing trust is the foundation for a lasting relationship!
PEOPLE RESIST BEING TOLD WHAT TO DO
Previously we talked about how people buy for pain or pleasure, i.e. based on emotion, then justified with logic. To validate this statement, we would quickly conclude the most important objective in making a
Why People Resist August 15, 2005
• What might stand in the way of Developing Trust
• Developing trust is the foundation for a lasting relationship!
PEOPLE RESIST BEING TOLD WHAT TO DO
Previously we talked about how people buy for pain or pleasure, i.e. based on emotion, then justified with logic. To validate this statement, we would quickly conclude the most important objective in making a
sales call is to develop the emotion of trust - trust in you, in what you say and in what your company says and does. With this objective in mind, you are now starting to lay the foundation of a long term relationship.
What might stand in the way of Developing Trust
Today we want to talk about any actions that may stand in the way of that process. But, before we go any further, let’s address a few questions.
How do you react when someone tells you “what to do.” Why don’t you put on a different shirt? or Why don’t you cut your hair shorter?
What’s your first reaction? Do you do it? I’ll bet the answer is no. You probably will resist. I know I probably will.
When my wife and I are traveling by car and she senses I am not sure how to get where I need to be, she is likely to react by saying “why don’t you stop and get directions?” How do you think I may react? Well, the truth is I will probably drive on for a few more miles - or until I Am low on gas, and then I’ll be much more inclined to stop and ask for those directions.
If someone who knows you and loves you “tells you what to do and you resist”, how do you think the prospect reacts when a sales person, just off the street with little or no knowledge of the potential client’s business, makes a similar statement.
The very act of “telling our prospect what to do” turns him off. Oh, we say, we don’t tell our prospect what to do - yet we will start sentences with “why don’t you? Couldn’t you? Don’t you think? - or the “entrapment” question - “if I could save you ___________, would you buy my services?
These questions are all close-ended questions that invite one-word answers. They “telegraph” to the prospective customer that this sales person is trying to tell me what to do and I will resist that and you have just set up the prospect to resist! Psychologically this prospect may be thinking “I have just proven we don’t want or need this service.”
Instead, why not try the wide-angled, open-ended questions that will get your prospect to talking and will share thoughts/clues that there is a need for your service.
If you really listen to your prospect - without making judgments or jumping to conclusions, no doubt your prospect will feel you are, indeed, one of the wisest people to have called on him in a long time.This adds just one more step in laying that foundation toward a long-term and trusting relationship.
What might stand in the way of Developing Trust
Today we want to talk about any actions that may stand in the way of that process. But, before we go any further, let’s address a few questions.
How do you react when someone tells you “what to do.” Why don’t you put on a different shirt? or Why don’t you cut your hair shorter?
What’s your first reaction? Do you do it? I’ll bet the answer is no. You probably will resist. I know I probably will.
When my wife and I are traveling by car and she senses I am not sure how to get where I need to be, she is likely to react by saying “why don’t you stop and get directions?” How do you think I may react? Well, the truth is I will probably drive on for a few more miles - or until I Am low on gas, and then I’ll be much more inclined to stop and ask for those directions.
If someone who knows you and loves you “tells you what to do and you resist”, how do you think the prospect reacts when a sales person, just off the street with little or no knowledge of the potential client’s business, makes a similar statement.
The very act of “telling our prospect what to do” turns him off. Oh, we say, we don’t tell our prospect what to do - yet we will start sentences with “why don’t you? Couldn’t you? Don’t you think? - or the “entrapment” question - “if I could save you ___________, would you buy my services?
These questions are all close-ended questions that invite one-word answers. They “telegraph” to the prospective customer that this sales person is trying to tell me what to do and I will resist that and you have just set up the prospect to resist! Psychologically this prospect may be thinking “I have just proven we don’t want or need this service.”
Instead, why not try the wide-angled, open-ended questions that will get your prospect to talking and will share thoughts/clues that there is a need for your service.
If you really listen to your prospect - without making judgments or jumping to conclusions, no doubt your prospect will feel you are, indeed, one of the wisest people to have called on him in a long time.This adds just one more step in laying that foundation toward a long-term and trusting relationship.