The Ol' Cigarette Technique

My dad, (sales guy extraordinaire) and I were recently conversing about the price of cigarettes and how soon nobody will be smoking anymore. Dad, who is an ex smoker, said, “Years ago, you’d light one up and sometimes it would burn out before you even got back to it.” He went on, “Working in retail, you smoked because your customers smoked. If you noticed a pack of cigarettes in their pocket, you would grab an ashtray, light one up and ask if they would like one. You did this because you knew they might be getting antsy to have a smoke, they would leave otherwise. It worked. You lit up, they sized you up, you smoked and talked and pretty soon, you had a sale.”

Profound. Obviously, we don’t smoke in our places of business anymore, and not nearly as many people regularly light up. However, what Dad essentially did is read his customers and then mirror them. Utilizing powers of observation, and then responding in a fashion the consumer would resonate with developed trust and encouraged conversation. The more the client talked, the easier it was for Dad to identify needs and find the right solution for them.

Before you ever try to sell anything, let the client size you up, and make sure you do some listening. Mirror their behavior and realize that in developing relationships, it’s important to find common ground.