By Victor Antonio, BSEE, MBA
One of the fastest ways to build rapport and trust is to
prove, in concrete terms, that you are looking out for the client’s best
interest. Zig Ziglar said that people
don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care about them.
One tried and true strategy that I use to
prove to a client that I care is something I call ‘Reversing Field’. In football, when a player carrying the
football reverses field, he goes the opposite way to avoid getting tackled by
the defense.
In sales, when someone
thinks you’re going to go one way, you surprised them by going the other way
thereby catching them off guard and opening them up to being influenced by
demonstrating goodwill. Here are two
examples to illustrate my point and how it can help you make more money:
Scenario 1:
You walk into a restaurant and then escorted to your table
by the greeter who tells you that your waiter will be by in a just a moment to
take your order. After a few minutes go
by a nice young man introduces himself politely and asks, “May I start you out
with a beverage or a drink?” You order
your drink and then the waiter tells you about Today’s Specials. After rambling off the list of specialties and before he
quickly darts off he says, “Let me go get your drink and I’ll be back to take
your order.”
Minutes later the waiter comes back with your drink. Then he grabs his pen and notepad and asks,
“Are you ready for me to take your order?”
You decide to order one of the Specials. The waiter pauses for a moment and looks at
you and says, “The last two people I had in here before you ordered the same
plate and in both cases they weren’t very happy with the way it was
prepared. If you’re really hungry for
that type of dish, try this other dish. People
love it! It’s a bigger serving and $5
cheaper than the Special.” You
instinctively agree. As the waiter
leaves you think to yourself, ‘Wow, what an honest waiter.
Not only did he save me from ordering something I might not like, he
saved me $5 in the process. I like this
kid.’
Result: The meal was great.
You usually tip 15%, but for his honesty and kindness you feel the need to reciprocate and show your appreciation so you decide to
leave the kid a 20% tip.
Scenario 2:
You walk into a car dealership to browse around and look for
a car. You walk past a few cars on the
showroom floor and one of them catches your eye. Out of nowhere a salesman appears and says,
“I can see you like this car. My name is
Bob. You’re lucky I got to you before
one of the other salespeople. They’ve
been trying to unload this car for the last month. Let me tell you upfront that it may look
good, but you don’t want the headaches that go along with it.”
At this point you have to slap yourself mentally to make
sure you’re not dreaming. ‘Did a car
salesman just tell me NOT to buy a car?’
The salesman than takes the time to escort you around the
car lot telling you the pros and cons of each car you're interested in. After a while, he figures out what you’re
looking for (i.e., Your Dominant Buying Motive) and helps you narrow your choices.
Result: You feel comfortable with his recommendation
because he seems to understand your needs and you decide to buy a car that is
10% more expensive then the one he told you NOT to buy.
The old adage that honest is the best policy holds true
here. With so much information available
to buyers today, they need someone they can trust who won’t steer them in the
wrong direction when making a purchase.
This is the premise of consultative selling. People need help making critical
decisions. Position yourself, much like
the waiter and car salesman, as trustworthy and you will reap the benefits in
the end. Seek to serve, then to sell. Demonstrating goodwill is a powerful influencing technique if done
correctly and with integrity.
Exercise: How can you use this ‘Reverse Field’ strategy in
your business to create trust and goodwill between you and your client?
