Dale Still Knows How to Close...

I took a Dale Carnegie class on recommendation from a great mentor of mine a few months ago. It was a great class, interesting... sometimes strange, but a set of rules that I learned from his book are still the golden eggs of the training.

I just got off the phone with an Associate member of ReproMAX who had approached a customer of his in a way that we had talked over and planned a few days ago with great success. This was a tough customer, not willing to entertain the idea of outsourced document management. I urged my associate not to talk about the 'product' but to learn more about him and how he did business. I urged him that this customer really, sadly enough, didn't care about what I did, what he did or what anyone else did and he certainly didn't care about our product. Not because this gentleman was indifferent, he just had other drives in his business. I urged my associate to approach him as a problem solver, to use the product as a resolution to a problem, not a 'thing' to purchase.

The call was a success. Instead of a short salesman vs. prospect jousting match, the call turned into a 1.5 hour consultative conversation. This is real consultative selling.

Needless to say, I still find that Dale Carnegie's Golden Rules are at the heart of some of my best conversations, sales calls and relationships. I urge you to print the list below off, tape it next to your phone or desk and the next customer that comes in; try it. You'll be amazed at how they open up and begin to trust you. Guaranteed or your money back.

Dale Carnegie's Golden Rules

1. Don't criticize, condemn or complain.
2. Give honest, sincere appreciation.
3. Arouse in the other person and eager want.
4. Become genuinely interested in other people.
5. SMILE.
6. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
7. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
8. Talk in terms of the other person's interests.
9. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.