Selling To Introverts
Avoid The Excessive Hype
by Bernard Smalls
I have been around the auto industry (the car business) for a long time now, and one thing that has been obvious to me over the years is the amount of excessive hype in the average dealership culture. While being energetic and enthusiastic is a part of selling, excessive hype could hurt your sales, particularly when selling to introverts. Understanding this topic and making adjustments will improve your sales and CSI (customer satisfaction index). Are these important to you? Let's go...
As Allen Mayer has said; “All too often, sales managers and salespeople pass off hype as enthusiasm, whether consciously or not. Visit any car dealership and just stand still to get a taste of this practice. Hype appeals to the imagination, both on the part of the salesperson and the customer. The problem with hype and imagination during the sales of the product is that both always exceed whatever features/benefits said product might convey in reality. Nine times out of ten, this is a recipe for an unhappy customer.” Dealerships with excellent customer service and High CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index) tend to temper the hype.
I know that this works! I worked with a Toyota dealership in Atlanta as the primary corporate trainer and customer care guru and we won Toyota's coveted President's Award ten years in a row for the ten years I was there. As I reflect on it, we did have a lot of hype, but we had great service and results. By the way, 600 units in a month was the norm for us. Like a walk in the park. (For more, see my book based on the true story Thank God It's Sunday!)
Is it important in today’s market to avoid the overwhelming hype?
Hype is defined; as (verb) to promote or publicize (a product or idea) intensively, often exaggerating its importance or benefits. The car business in general has been an industry quick to hype its products. The problem is simple: hype doesn't last, excellent service does.
MY AHA MOMENT
The real ‘AHA’ moment for came to me during the COVID-19 pandemic when I worked in the life insurance industry for about eighteen months. During a phone training class, a million-dollar seller was sharing his secret to success and warning against the hype or sounding like a salesman. He said the key to his success was he toned down the hype on the phone and spoke lower and slower. In the car business, most training says the exact opposite. The Million-Dollar man said the less like a salesman he sounded, the more he sold. Well, the proof was in his success ratio and his paycheck. This started me thinking about all of the hype in car dealerships. Is it working for or against you in sales? Does your customer want the typical car salesperson, or do they want a person who delivers sales and service excellence?
WE LIKE THE HYPE!!
This insight was further driven home when I was training in a dealership. I was playing the part of a salesman in a role-play when I purposefully turned off the hype, lowered my voice, and just talked to the customer. The GM and his sales manager immediately gave their feedback! They said that I was not fired up enough…I told him that my behavior was intentional. He looked at me like I had just landed on Mars. I tried to explain the reason for toning it down intentionally and he adamantly disagreed… What do you think the CSI scores were like in his store...? WELL! I left that class thinking, we got a problem Houston. I thought, wow, looks like we want the hype more than we want to serve the customer. It’s (hype) kind of like a drug in the average dealership…
As Mayer puts it “In sales, walking the fine line between enthusiasm and factual details is challenging but not impossible. The key to speaking frankly about the benefits of any product is product knowledge. Knowing your product will prepare you to match products appropriately to a customer’s needs and anticipate any questions they may have.”
领英推荐
SELLING TO INTROVERTS
What percentage of customers do you think are extroverts? What about introverts? According to psychologists between 16 and 50% of people are introverted. Mayer said; “Selling to introverts is often easiest when focus is placed upon facts, not superfluous characteristics. Probing with simple open-ended questions is a proven tactic that allows both parties to determine the rightness of this or that product. It also breaks the ice and allows for a conversation between minds to take place, something that puts both customers and introverted salespeople at ease.”
“A great way to avoid hype is to know and remember each product’s pros and cons. Because there is no product without a few shortcomings, awareness of these and ways to overcome them is important to keeping one’s sales pitch strong and realistic. Mentioning a product’s cons may not even be necessary, but knowing they exist and having a truthful answer ready when such questions about cons arise keeps the sales conversation grounded and not pie-in-the-sky.” “Because introverts are generally more self-reflective and observant of body language, imagining how it feels to have a salesperson over-hype a product to you can help keep you from doing the same. Selling to introverts is often a question of conducting a slightly lower key exchange, so shying away from hype is frequently a given of this personality type.”
In a real circumstance, when customers ask frank questions, answer them honestly. Supply the facts about features. Mention awards and citations products have won, providing they have been granted by recognized authorities in a certain industry. With deep knowledge about the product, hype is easy to avoid during sales. Quiet confidence on the part of salespeople goes over just as well as, if not better than, loud talk and bragging.
THE RAVING FANS WAY
The Raving Fans Way is a great solution to overkill in the area of hype. Decide what you want. listen to what the customer wants. Deliver plus one by excellence in customer service.
I want to leave you with four simple tips:
Sales Excellence is the cure for overhype in selling in today’s competitive markets. Ask me about our new Sales Excellence Now training.
Happy Selling, Bernard
Reference: Allen Mayer, How to Avoid Hype When Selling