Kim Duke Sales Diva

What you can learn from the Movie Business
By Kim Duke

Maybe everything you need to know you can learn from the movies. A
friend of mine is a screenwriter in Los Angeles. Over a glass of wine, we
were discussing his business and the nature of the beast in Hollywood.
He's a boy from Winnipeg who gave up his much-loved Honda, his life
savings, and his broadcasting career to move to Los Angeles to attend
the American Film Institute. Not an easy feat in your mid-30s. After 8 years
of hard work he is now becoming the new discovery of LA. He said the
most difficult thing to adjust to was all the talking.

Collin slouches into his chair. "Everyone lies in this business. It's all big
Cheshire cat smiles - but essentially people have the 'Enough about you -
more about me' mentality."

After our conversation I thought about his last statement.

In Sales, You are on a Blind Date with Your Prospective Customer?
We tend to love what we do. So we get all excited about it and then
proceed to tell everything about ourselves to the potential customer. It
just reminds me of a really bad date! A one-sided conversation becomes
tired pretty quickly. Customers feel like they are on a bad blind date with
you if there isn't a connection to what they need.

Minus the cynicism, our clients are also thinking like the Hollywood set,
"ENOUGH ABOUT YOU blabbing about all the wonderful things about your
company, your product, your requirements. MORE ABOUT ME - and what I
need to survive and thrive!"

The Helium Test

Are you talking your face off when you are speaking with your client?
When they ask you on the phone what you have to offer - do they hear a
massive intake of air and then you giving your best "I just sucked in
helium and can talk really fast" act?

If so - you aren't making a connection with your customer. You sound like
everyone else, you act like everyone else and you aren't positioning
yourself as someone who can help. Because at the end of the day -what
you really do is HELP PEOPLE. The only way this is accomplished is by
discovering what your customer needs and researching other areas of
need - areas your customer may not even have thought of yet!

Questions Are The Answer!
Sounds like a paradox doesn't it? In order to help your customer you first
find out what they need. Or THINK they need.

Carrie Fisher, the actress who played Princess Leah in Star Wars said
�Instant gratification doesn't come fast enough. � Now for a girl with
cinnamon buns attached to the side of her head this is a pretty profound
statement.

Your customers are demanding instant gratification. They want their
needs met. In most cases, it just isn't happening. The first thing out of
your mouth should be "May I ask you a few questions?"

Remember W5?

Who, What, When, Where, Why and How are the foundation of selling.
Customers buy when they feel an emotion NOT when they've had
information dumped on them. How do you do this? By asking questions!
Our customers become engaged when they feel curiosity... .NOT
boredom.

Our customer contact should be handled with this premise - Create
Curiosity With Questions.

Would the Academy of Sales Want You?
Create your own Academy award winning sales success by talking less
and listening more. As Collin says, the best agents ask a multitude of
relevant questions. Then they listen to the answers and make it happen.
Are you acting like a star with your clients or are you being an agent?
Your success lies in the answer.

Kim Duke, The Sales Diva, provides savvy, sassy sales training for women small biz owners and entrepreneurs.
Kim works with clients internationally, showing them The Sales Diva secrets to success! Sign up for her saucy
and smart FREE e-zine and receive her FREE Bonus Report "The 5 Biggest Sales Mistakes Women Make" at
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