One of the best known lessons from the Bible is found in Luke 6:31. This Bible verse is also known as the Golden Rule. It says, "Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You."
Few can argue with the merits of the Golden Rule, if for no other reason, because we all like to be treated like we like to be treated. If everyone were to follow the Golden Rule, the world would certainly be a better place.
But if you were to be talking specifically about the profession of sales, there is actually a better Rule, one that's called the Platinum Rule. This Rule calls for salespeople to "…Do Unto Others as THEY Would Have You Do Unto THEM." The Platinum Rule is quite a bit different from the Golden Rule because it focuses on what others want from us rather than what we might want from others.
To practice the Platinum Rule® effectively, it's necessary to get inside the head of the customer or the prospect. We need to know a lot about the person we're trying to persuade. We need to know a lot about the way the individual thinks if we are to be successful at getting inside his head and treat him the way he wants to be treated. Just any behavior won't get the job done.
Here's an example that illustrates the difference between these two rules:
If smokers did unto others the way they would have others do unto them, smokers would smoke in a non smoker's office. But if smokers treat non smokers the way THEY want to be treated, smokers would refrain from smoking in the non smoker's presence.
This is a great lesson for successful selling!
The Platinum Rule® also calls for us to talk to others (in this case customers or prospects) about the kinds of things others want to talk about. So to be effective at getting our foot in the door, we must do enough homework to figure out the kinds of things the customer or prospect likes to talk about.
Here's my recommendation: Prepare a dossier on each customer and each prospect. Keep notes on their hobbies, interests, sports teams followed, club affiliations, vacation preferences, pet peeves, etc. There is hardly any better way to get your foot in the door of someone you don't already have a relationship with than to find out where their passion lies and show a sincere interest in that passion.
My daughter, Shannon, is one of the best salespeople I know. She has soared through the ranks in business, starting out as a sales representative and advancing to managing a third of the nation for her company.
In her second job in sales, she was promoted to sales manager for Nextel in Charlotte, NC. I was working in my office on a Saturday afternoon when she telephoned me. She telephones me often, but this day was different, I could hear a loud roaring noise in the background. When I asked her where she was calling from, she told me that she was calling from the Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte.
"What are you doing there? I asked. I didn't know you liked NASCAR."
"I had no choice," she told me. "All my customers here seem to enjoy talking about is racing, so if I'm going to fit in, if I'm going to be able to talk to them about the things they enjoy talking about, I figured I had better learn something about racing. So here I am watching drivers drive around in circles at very high rates of speed."
I told you my daughter is smart about selling. She figured out rather quickly that she would be at a disadvantage if she could not communicate with her customers and prospects on their level; that is, if she couldn't talk to them about the kinds of things THEY liked to talk about.
How much do you know about your customers and prospects? What new could you do -- something you've never done in the past -- to demonstrate to your customers and prospects that you're genuinely interested in some of the same things they're interested in?
What new could you learn – something you don't currently know how to do -- to enable you to communicate with your customers and prospects in areas that are important to THEM?
Remember the Platinum Rule® and Do Unto Others the Way THEY Would Have You Do Unto THEM.
Bill Lee is author of Gross Margin: 26 Factors Affecting Your Bottom Line and 30 Ways Managers Shoot Themselves in the Foot. http://www.BillLeeOnLine.com
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