The Waitress Sales Lesson

     Today my sales colleague Dave and I were having lunch at the Pratt Street Ale House in Baltimore. Julie was our server. Not only was she funny, but as Dave pointed out she could sell too. Now it wasn't that she tried to push an appetizer or desert on us. Robin was selling a nice fat tip. Her secret weapon? Honesty.

    How many times have you been at a restaurant and asked a server what was good? Now you know darn well there are some things on the menu that are awesome and some things that suck. What answer do you normally get? "Everything is good," or some other non-answer answer like a politician tap dancing around a question. If the tap dance is too loud then you know you aren't getting the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Bye, bye credibility. Bye, bye tip.

    Question is, how many times have you tap danced around the truth in a sales meeting like a Radio City Rockette? When a prospect asks you a question, even one that could potentially hurt your chances of a close, what do you say? In second grade we're taught to tell the truth no matter what. That seems to fade when we get a mortgage, car payment and our spouse comes home announcing "guess how much I saved you at Macy's?"

    Fact is the definition of "the truth" gets a little murky with age, especially when you are in sales. My first sales manager said he "would always tell the truth or some version of it." You bet I employed that advice a time or two until I rediscovered my second grade lesson of telling the truth. Always.

    Robin reminded me of that when I asked her which sandwich she liked better; the chicken wrap or the chipoltle pulled pork.  "Neither," she said. "I don't think either one is that great.  If I were you, I'd get the cheese steak (which cost the same)." An honest answer? How refreshing!

    Your prospects are just like me. They know something on the menu of what you're selling isn't that great. Every company has a flaw and they know it. Start a tap dance when they ask and it's as apparent as the rapping of a Rockette's tap shoes. That puts doubt in a prospect's mind. What other truth are you simply "telling a version of"? Why would they want to work with someone who isn't 100 percent trustworthy?

    Robin remembered the second grade and gave me a startling and sadly, rare answer. The truth. No tip-toeing around it. As a result, she sold her big tip.

    Now here's a tip for you. Next time a prospect asks you a tough question, take the tap shoes off and tell them the truth, not a version of it. They will respect your surprising honesty. As a result, you'll get more sales.   

  

Comments

[You Sell Like a Second Grader]

What was the waitress' name, Julie or Robin? It was Robin! There was no Julie. Sorry for the mix up!

[www.aboutsalespeople.com]

Honesty is one of the key traits of a great salesperson. It is what differentiates you from the black to the white list. It creates a circle of trust, into which, you can sell just about anything.

[You Sell Like a Second Grader]

Your word matters. Even in this attorney invested business environment.