by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
Have you ever been approached by an over eager salesperson and you could just hear the desperation in their voice? Well, many of you may have turned into that salesperson and aren’t getting anywhere.
Professional speaker David Knox says to cut it out and take a whole new approach in your selling strategy and you will sell houses.
Knox was last month’s speaker at the Northeast Florida Builders Association’s Sales and Marketing Council breakfast at the University of North Florida’s University Center.
His presentation of “Master the Game of Selling” explained how to achieve the outcome you want -a sale - in a unique way.
“How important is it for you to win?” he asked? “How important is it for you to make the sale? The more important it is to you, the less you will win.”
Knox said when you are trying too hard to make a sale, all it shows is desperation.
So, what’s the answer?
“Let go of the outcome to create more income,” he said. “Make a game of it and act like you don’t care about the outcome.”
He gave a scenario of meeting up with a potential buyer who is on the fence and how to get them to make a decision.
“When they ask how much the house is, tell them,” he said. “It’s $450,000. The buyer will say ‘Oh, that is a lot of money’. You say ‘OK, then don’t buy this one. There are some houses down the street that are less’. The buyer will then say, ‘But we like this house the best.’ Then you should say, ‘Well. Then. buy it.’”
Knox said that mastery is going beyond limits.
“It’s excellence,” he said. “I really believe that selling is a game. We often reward people for winning, but mastering is different than winning.”
Even if you don’t “win,” you can be a master in your field, which will take you a lot farther.
Knox had everyone raise their hand as far as they could. Then, he asked them to raise it bit further and they did.
“There’s always more to go for you to do a little bit better,” he said.
“The important thing about the game is how you play, not if you win.”
Knox said many salespeople have been “classically” trained in selling, just as he was once.
“You say this, they say that and then at some point, you are like, hey, these customers don’t know their lines,” joked Knox. “It’s frustrating.”
Knox said selling is a natural skill.
“Look at children,” he said. “Children automatically know how to sell. They know all six steps of selling automatically.”
Knox’s six steps of selling are to show up, build rapport, establish trust, determine motivation, present benefits and secure a decision.
Knox said that prospecting is a physical act that you can perform to create an outcome.
“The concept of mastering is that you judge yourself by what you put in, not by what you get out,” he said. “You need to let go of the outcome, you really don’t have a choice. Your greatest regret will be not playing, which means not calling and not knocking on doors. Take a risk. When you see a For Sale by Owner, stop and knock on their door.”
Knox says there is a difference between mastering and winning and used an analogy of the Olympics. In a swim meet, most swimmers don’t focus on winning because they have no control over what the other swimmers will do, but if they focus on mastering their own skill and swim with that in mind, they are more likely to win.
“I’m not a big fan of contests because it causes you to take your eye off the ball,” he said.
No matter what job you are doing, do it to perfection and then dress for the next job.
“If you want to be good at the next job, then you master this one,” he said.
“It’s a whole different concept. You are no longer using manipulative techniques to try to get someone to buy, you are mastering what you put in the game and then you don’t care what comes out because you did your best. It’s a really fun way to sell.”
If you look at selling as a game you will relax and perform at your maximum potential.
“But when you take it seriously, you are stressed which can equal minimum performance,” said Knox.