Losing The Ideal Client

     Can you relate to this? You're looking across your desk into the face of a prospect who would be a perfect client. You know what you can provide is ideal for his company and you're 99 percent sure he will accept your proposal. Then something goes wrong. He walks, and you don't know why.

     This week Promotional Consultant Today is looking at several of the most common missteps made in selling situations and the simple keys to avoid these problems.

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"Where liberty dwells, there is my country."

Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, 1706-1790

Asking Questions

     Questions are the heart of an effective selling situation.  They serve two purposes:

1. To involve the client and help him come to his own conclusions. Often, that's the conclusion you would have presented. The difference -- if the client comes up with it, he believes it, but if you present it, the client doesn't necessarily believe it.

2. The other role of questions is to elicit information that will help you frame your product or service inside the client's criteria and values.

Asking Valuable Questions

     Some sales people ask way too many questions, or they ask irrelevant questions. To make the right impression:

1. The client must perceive the questions as valuable and relevant.

2. The client must believe that your questions are important, and that his answers will enable you to create a better result for him -- to help him solve his problems.

      Source: Pam Holloway is a business psychologist and co-founder of AboutPeople, a training and consulting firm that helps companies maximize the people side of business. She is a program designer, author and keynote speaker and teacher specializing in market psychology and organizational dynamics.

Promotional Consultant Today will not be published on Monday, July 6, in observance of Independence Day. Have a safe and happy July 4 holiday!