WHY PROSPECTING IS AVOIDED.

HUMAN NATURE WILL NEVER CHANGE

You can't change human nature. Human nature hasn’t changed in thousands of years and never will. People will react the way human nature dictates. They respond automatically and instinctively instead of logically.

It is essential that you understand the elements of human nature that drive people.  We live in a business world of combativeness, hostility, and a take no prisoner’s mentality. Prospecting and meeting new people is fraught with anxiety.

THINKING POSITIVE IS NOT THE ANSWER.

Positive thinking exercises have great value but are no substitute for the real reason that people don't prospect.  Positive thinking will not alleviate the fact that fear is caused by what others say to us. It’s become a brutal arena for doing business. There is stress on both prospects and salespeople.

Salespeople all want to “pick the low hanging fruit” and the easy prospect, but no amount of positive thinking will make that happen. Fortunately, when someone does get a call from a polished professional, they’re appreciated because of the comparison alone.

YOU MUST DEAL WITH ANGRY PEOPLE.

“Once burned & twice shy” is a prevailing attitude when it comes to prospecting by phone. When we’re new in sales, we don’t have any fears, “bring it on, I can handle anything & anybody.

” Were we ever surprised? Little did we understand how many angry people we would encounter? When we make a sales call we often run into people who get upset easily. After a steady diet of rejection a dark pall of vivid memories descends on our subconscious.

When it’s time to make calls, the pain starts. Oh no! Here it comes again, dry mouth, white knuckles, stage fright, mental block, shakes, perspiration, and on and on. The inevitable reaction is to retreat, avoidance behavior, and flight from fright.

HOW TO TREAT CRAZY AND NEUROTIC PROSPECTS.

Psychiatric studies have shown that up to 20% of adults are, to some degree, neurotic. On any given day you're probably dealing with at least one out of five prospects that you contact, who live their own neurotic world.

The problem is not that they have a mental disorder; the problem is how do you "handle" this type of person. The answer is; "very delicately." Just as you can't argue with a fool, trying to make sense of a neurotic persons reasoning is a "fool’s journey."

Like everyone else who has to deal with them, they will baffle and confound you unintentionally. The neurotic person defies logic and will get a well-meaning person to "buy into" their irrational thinking. Don't get suckered in when engaged in a conversation.  Usually they don't mean to be that way, but, are controlled by "neurosis" that neither they nor anyone else can explain.

IT’S THE “WORDS” YOU USE.

The question then becomes is how do you handle an angry neurotic prospect and still do business with them.  Great care should be taken with the things that you say to them. It’s the words you use that will determine if you can effectively communicate with them.

Exerpted from “Smooth-talker, How To Write Your Own Business Scripts” by: Richard Bliznik Copyright© 1996-2007.