Communication SkillsSelling Skills

Are you Scaring Your Prospects at Trade Shows and in Email?

By December 13, 2013 No Comments

No one frightens qualified prospects and interested people away knowingly. But what you may not know is…

•When you ask questions in an email that require your prospect to provide a thoughtful response, you scare them away. I’m not implying that your prospects are stupid, just that they are busy. And you may find this hard to believe but yes, they are even busier than you. So when you they send an email asking for a proposal and their info is incomplete, you scare them away by asking them to provide more information or even asking them to add their answers to a bulleted list of questions

Way better is to provide them with a preliminary proposal based on the information provided and then taking control of the next step: Offering to phone to ensure they have everything they need.

• Trade shows: I walked the floor of an excellently executed trade show and was treated either like an interloper or like I was waaaaay too important.

Booth personnel, those who were standing them by themselves and without a prospect – those who weren’t on their phones – jumped on me. “How are you today? Do you need X? Would you like a (fill in the blank… candy bar, sticky note pad, glass of champagne, etc.).” No, thank you, I’m not really a buyer, I would try to say. “Oh, it’s okay. We don’t want to take this stuff home,” was the most frequent response.

Not one person tried to engage me in a meaningful conversation but they were eager to dump their stuff.

On the other hand, some people would scan the badge on my chest. And they would decide that based on my speaker ribbon, I wasn’t likely a buyer. So their eyes would continue down my body, never to return to my face.

One young professional told me that so many people treated her as if she had no power. She said, “They were just rude as if I didn’t count. But one day, I’ll be in charge and I’ll remember.”

Do you inadvertently scare your prospects away?

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