Diagnosis
Overall, you connect with your clients – but a few are hard to relate toPrescription
Find their positive hot buttons and you'll build much-needed rapport in no time
Dr. Richards was one of the busiest internists in the area – he was writing prescriptions with both hands, yet his office
was impenetrable. Every rep in the territory tried to get in – if one could secure just five percent of his business, he would
be king, and make his numbers for the entire year!
The first challenge was to build rapport with the staff and the second challenge was to get invited into Dr. Richard's office.
Only one rep from our company ever made it that far, but his sales call proved unproductive. I don't know if it was the alignment of the planets or just good clean living, but not only did I make it into Dr. Richard's
office, I was invited to go boating with him that afternoon!
My colleagues often asked what I did when I finally got face to face with Dr. Richards that got me an invitation to go boating
– and later to secure a very large percentage of his business. The answer is this: I used a technique I call "hot buttons"
to quickly and effortlessly build instant rapport. Using this incredible technique, I sold so much of my product to Dr. Richards
and other physicians in my territory, that I became the number one sales rep in the country for 11 months of that year.
What, exactly, are hot buttons? Most people think of hot buttons as topics that quickly incense a person and get their blood
boiling with anger. Those are negative hot buttons, and we all know to avoid people's negative hot buttons. However, there are also positive hot buttons. Positive hot buttons are topics that really fire a person up with excitement. These topics could be their children,
their travels, their career, their hobbies or something else. Everyone has topics that they simply love to talk about – even the most introverted doctors – it's just a matter of uncovering those
topics.
Those of who can quickly uncover others' positive hot buttons will promptly build rapport, trust, likeability and credibility.
Access becomes easier in key offices, and sales numbers will climb. Salespeople who don't know the art of uncovering people's
positive hot buttons will struggle, and have a very difficult time building rapport with their customers.
So how exactly do you go about finding hot buttons and using them to your advantage?
#1 – Let others talk
Many people go into sales because they enjoy being around people, and love to talk. Interestingly, most six-figure salespeople
are either introverts, or they have seriously learned to listen and let others do the talking. They have found that the more
they let the other person talk, the more they themselves learn and the more they sell.
When you let other people do most of the talking, they will thoroughly (and unconsciously) enjoy being with you because you
are showing an interest in them. So, the more you let the other person talk in a conversation, the more you will be liked! This will build your rapport with that person, and help you gain access into the office on future visits.
Furthermore, when you listen, you will learn incredible amounts of information about that person; you can uncover facts about
his or her life, beliefs, and of course, prescribing habits. You can then use this information when you sell. Your goal should
be to let others speak at least 70 percent of the time.
