It occurred to me this morning that sometimes we make selling more complicated than it needs to be. A couple of years ago sales guru Jerry Acuff kick gave me a list he called “13 fundamental facts about human beings (especially customers).” As I was looking through my notes, it occurred to me that this list pretty much contains everything that you need to know in order to be successful at sales, at least when it comes to customer relationships. Here’s a slightly edited version:
- Customers want to feel that they’re important.
- Customers want to feel and be appreciated.
- Customers are not particularly interested in you (or me).
- Customers want two things in life: success and happiness.
- Customers want you to truly listen.
- Customers will only connect if they feel valued by you.
- Customers buy emotionally and defend logically.
- Customers’ attention span is very short.
- Customers with common interests have natural rapport.
- Customers want to feel and be understood.
- Customers are drawn to those who show genuine interest.
- Customers love to teach you things they know.
- Customers want to associate with others who can help.
What do you think? Does that pretty much sum up what you need to about customers? Or is something missing from the list?
