By Tom Mann, Principal, Executive Vice President
Selling to boomers or seniors? In the last blog of this series, we talked about The Principle of Consistency. Today, we’re going to talk about The Principle of Liking.
People are ready to be persuaded by people they like…aside from the staples of life, people don’t buy products, they buy relationships! This is especially true when selling to the mature market. Levels of liking go up as people become more certain that we are listening. That’s why people find the beginning of new relationships SO intoxicating. Because the other person is still so engrossed with you.
Good listeners parrot back what the customer has said. For example, a salesperson selling apartments in an active 55+ retirement community or Life Plan Community might say, “So when you say you are looking for a two-bedroom apartment home, if I heard you correctly, you’re looking to use the second bedroom as a den. Is that correct?”
And research has shown that the closer and more exactly you parrot back what the prospect has said, the higher the level of liking. Why does this work? Because it requires true listening. Plus, as a forced discipline it will actually improve your listening skills! After all, who’s the most interesting and important person in the world to most people? That’s right, themselves!
Next up, The Principle of Authority.
Source: Influence at Work
For more information on how to improve your sales team, call Tim Bracken at 410-207-0013 (Eastern Region), or Rick Hunsicker at 215-906-3801 (Western Region).
Attending LeadingAge Ohio? Be sure to attend our session (4E), “Using Marketing to Drive Long-Term Planning” on Thursday, September 8 at 8 a.m. The presentation will be led by Chris Carruthers and Tim Bracken. Visit page 15 of the conference brochure for a full description of the session.
