Business Development For Dummies

Chapter 14

Taking the Lead: Selling Under Control

In This Chapter

Putting customers to the test

Presenting your firm’s services

Have you ever faced customers who, no matter how hard you try, keep disrupting the conversation, veering off into dead ends or being generally squirrely with you? The truth is that customers have the right to behave any way they want with you (at least until I ascend to power!), although if you’re highly skilled you’ll be able to handle the more slippery ones. In the end, however, customers are what they are, with all their concerns, fears and dreams. Just don’t live in la-la land and think that you’re going to change them. (Oh, to be president of la-la land – the people are so easy to please!)

Although I talk in this book about business development from the customer’s viewpoint and encourage you to get inside your customer’s head (see Chapter 3), I don’t mean to imply that you have to be under the heel of customers and that anything they say goes. No, you have to coach customers through the process, preferably on your timeline and not theirs. Plus, you can start training customers to be the way you want them to be. I know that sounds far-fetched – but it really is possible.

One of the myths around selling is that the customer is in control. Nonsense! ...