Sales Techniques

I just realised why books teaching selling techniques have so many detractors --- the techniques might have been used successfully by the authors of the books, but transferring them from paper to actions is no easy feat. However, some critics may go too far in their slamming, for while one may not be able to use the skills immediately, it does provide one with the necessary framework and knowledge which will enable one to learn faster.

Let me explain my point through a deal I botched because I committed a cardinal error: trivalising a customer’s concern. I was trying to convince a mother to send her son down to my tuition centre. The deal was going perfectly until she voiced concern about our scholars having inadequate knowledge. Moot point, I thought to myself, since after studying for A Levels, O Levels becomes really simple. Not to mention that my tuition centre is manned by scholars; scholars may often be regarded as being too bookish, lacking street smarts, being too muggish, having no entrepreneurial inclination, etc, but something which people do not deny is that we do well for examinations (no representation of intelligence though).

Thus, I replied as tactfully as possible that it was a non-issue, spelling out just how qualified we were. Well, at that point, she seemed relatively satisfied with my answer, and I moved on, dispelling her other concerns. At the end of it, she agreed to enroll her son, and asked me to call her once I confirmed the classes.

I called her two hours later and I found an apologetic parent who told me that she had decided to renege on her promise. The reason: after much thought, she decided she would prefer an experienced teacher instead, and that as much as we were scholars, our two years of teaching experience was insufficient. This was a worry that she did not raise during our conversation though I asked her repeatedly whether she had any other issues.

In retrospect, I attribute this to my trivalising her concern about the teaching ability of scholars. I’m guess her doubts were not adequately quashed, and started festering, leading to the ignominious ending.

Lesson: Never patronise, trivalise or brush away concerns. Listen carefully and empathise. There is no point listing out all the benefits of a particular product or service if there are some lingering objections; always solve it before continuing.

So how does this lead back to my point? Without such books, introspection and post portem would be rather useless since I wouldn’t know where I went wrong.

Proof? I just got off the phone: I managed to get a parent who had similar reservations to sign up for lessons.