The PSIP Method

Lets now explore the PSIP method: Pleasantries, Show-off, Inform, Probe. PSIP represents the four navigational buoys of an effective opening strategy, designed to help you neutralize initial tension and make a smooth transition into the needs analysis stage. All four components of PSIP must work in accord with each other in order to take advantage of this proven approach. A well-executed PSIP strategy is your springboard into a smooth opening and is a great confidence builder early in the call. It is a great way to launch into the heart of the sales call, relax the initial tension, stripping away the stiffness of the call. A strong opening strategy arouses the customers curiosity and respect, often setting the tone for the entire call, including telephone calls.

The PSIP method is not reserved for first-time sales calls only. It also works well with existing customers. Just as the Sequential Model must be applied to every sales situation, PSIP must also be utilized at every sales call, regardless of your customers tenure.

Pleasantries. Customers form an opinion about you within 15 seconds, even before you speak. They evaluate your posture, dress, hygiene, grooming, and attitude.

Pleasantries include two aspects, visual and verbal. First impressions encompass both aspects, and can be a tremendous asset or a costly liability. Many salespeople make a poor impression without realizing it by overlooking important details such as proper dress, punctuality, grooming, and overall professionalism. You cant afford to let any aspect of your approach, visual or verbal, compromise the impression you communicate to your customer. Be cognizant of the impact of your physical appearance and how it can affect your customers evaluation of you. Your visual assets, how you look to the customer, are something to be proud of. This is an important aspect of nonverbal communication. Show up on time feeling good, looking good, thinking good, and ready to do business. Emulate the attitude of a winner, a champion. Customers want to deal with winners, so look like one. The most important presentation you make is to yourself every morning in the mirror.

Verbal pleasantries means initiating social conversation with the customer using local events, current events, or global events as possible topics of conversation. Take 15 minutes before you leave the house or your hotel and peruse the morning paper, perhaps the business section or the sports section. Be informed. It can be a great ice-breaker and a source of conversation, especially if youre from out of town. During the pleasantries stage try to keep the conversation social. Encourage your customer to respond on a personal level rather than on a formal business level. A short, humorous personal story such as, Youll never guess what happened to me this morning . . . identifies you as a real human being. It can do wonders to help people relax.

Another big advantage of the pleasantries stage is the opportunity it provides to identify your customers behavioral style. Ask yourself, What quadrant is she in? and How do I need to adjust? The pleasantries stage begins to reveal preferred styles by way of dress and mannerisms. A talkative response or a quick short answer to your questions will tell you a lot about your customers style. Behavioral styles and behavioral flexibility are discussed in detail throughout Chapter 6.

The key to forging a long-term relationship with your customer is to build rapport by way of adjusting to your customers preferred behavioral style. By definition, rapport means having something in common, a link, some way to connect with your customer. Use behavioural flexibility, coupled with appropriate social conversation, to build rapport. Dont rely on a picture of a sailboat hanging in the office to stimulate conversation. It can be viewed as a shallow approach to building rapport and Im sure your customer is sick of talking about it every time a sales representative comes into the office.

Depending upon the customers style, the pleasantries stage can be as quick as one minute or as long as fifteen minutes. Remember, each call is situational. I caution you to safeguard yourself against conversational drift. Dont let the talkative customer dominate all your time with such topics as religion, capital punishment, or empty chatter that compromises the objective of the pleasantry stage.

During the pleasantry stage you begin to understand your customers preferred business style, just as the customer will have a good feeling about you and your level of confidence. By the way, my previous point about a customer forming an opinion about you within 15 seconds works both ways. You too begin to form an impression about your customer early and quickly.

The best advice I can offer for the pleasantries stage is to be yourself, guided by a positive attitude and the confidence that comes with effective planning and preparation.

Show-off. The second stage of PSIP is the opportunity to show off your new-found wisdom. Take a subtle approach. By way of conversation and visual evidence (annual reports, brochures) let the customer know youve done your homework. This is the point where social conversation (pleasantries) shifts to business conversation. You have invested some non-selling, janitorial hours in planning and preparing so now its time to get a return on that investment. Your return comes in the form of the customers appreciation for your obvious commitment and professionalism. As discussed in Chapter 3, take an, Oh, by the way approach to present your information. Take out their annual report and any brochures that you received prior to the call and refer to them. For example, Oh, by the way, I noticed in your annual report some comments about your recent acquisition of ABC Company, or I noticed in your brochures you manufacture ten different models. You can even use competitive intelligence to show off by saying, I understand your competitors have discontinued manufacturing their . . . This demonstrates your knowledge of their industry as well as their business. Powerful stuff. What better way to get your customers interest and attention and build credibility than by talking about their business? The examples of show-off items are endless, but be sure to relate your show-off items to current, relevant information about their business.

A case in point: My associate and I made a sales call to the head office of a company. We arrived early for our appointment, and had an opportunity to review some additional literature displayed in their lobby. Our contact, the VP of Quality and Training, introduced himself and showed us into the boardroom. We had barely sat down, working through the pleasantries stage, when he asked us, What do you know about our company? With great enthusiasm my associate produced their annual report and a few of their brochures attained prior to the appointment and then proceeded to talk about their business. We had done our homework. The customer was impressed with our knowledge. We had earned the right to proceed with the call and the next hour went very well. His confidence in us led to an introduction to the VP of Sales and Marketing, a pivotal decisionmaker in the sales process.

The show-off stage has tremendous impact on the outcome of your sales call. I think more and more customers are going to openly challenge salespeople about the extent of their knowledge. Without the benefit of planning, you put yourself in a perilous situation, sitting in the customers office with a look on your face that resembles a deer caught in the headlights. The show-off stage of PSIP is an excellent way to differentiate yourself, not to mention the confidence derived from having conversational knowledge about your potential customer.

Inform. The Inform stage of PSIP provides an opportunity to inform your customer about what you are selling and the reason for your visit. I refer to this stage as synchronizing the call; advising the customer of your call objectives. This helps align your call agenda to the customers buying agenda. Amazingly, customers are often subjected to long-winded feature dumps, but are never really sure what the objective is or what the sales representative is trying to accomplish. I have witnessed calls where the customer and the salesperson are completely out of sync. The expectations of each are totally different. Perhaps I should have titled this book, Synchronized Selling.

Getting in sync with your customer means asking a few up-front questions to evaluate his or her understanding of what you represent. Ask, Have you heard of our company before? and Do you know what we do? If the customer answers no to either question, give a quick overview of who you are and what you are selling. Synchronize the call. Dont feature dump them with reams of useless information, but rather respond with an informative two- to three-minute information statement. Consider this your corporate infomercial. To add impact to your information statement, include a few key benefits that previous customers have come to appreciate. This stage of PSIP need not take more than three to five minutes. Brevity is a virtue.

Probe. The entrepreneurial style of selling places emphasis on probing for needs and expectations, exploring for an opportunity to satisfy an existing inconvenience or dissatisfaction with a current vendor. Skillful use of questions is the essence of an effective needs analysis, which of course is the prerequisite to a creative, tailored solution. Creative solutions drive the relationship. There is a direct correlation between the success of salespeople and their confidence to ask superior questions. The challenge is not the ability to ask questions but rather the confidence to ask enough of the right questions. I have seen countless situations where salespeople make the mistake of asking only a few scripted questions then launch into an enthusiastic, well-rehearsed feature dump based on what they think should be of interest to the customer. Rarely do they plan the questions they will ask. Sales entrepreneurs realize that the questions you ask customers are more important than anything you tell them. By answering questions, customers state their ideas, thoughts, and needs in their own words. If they say it, its true. If you say it, they can doubt you. They quickly sense your presentation (feature dump) is based on your own self-serving interests, and the reaction is sure to be negative. You must be

interested, as well as interesting. Imagine the impression you would create on a blind date if you did most of the talking and didnt ask any questions. It wouldnt make for a very interesting conversation. I dont think there would be a second date; just as there wont be a second appointment with a potential customer.

Most customers divulge as little as possible, especially during the early stage of the call. Unless you probe with smart questions, they give you only average information. Dumb questions begets dumb information, which means you deliver a dumb solution. Dumb information means its the same information your competitor received. Your customer will tell you that your solution is dumb by saying, Interesting, thats exactly what your competitor told me. Superior questions help you avoid the me-too presentation, the cookie-cutter syndrome. Customers purchase differences, not similarities. Dont be caught sitting in your customers office giving new meaning to the movie Dumb and Dumber.

Unfortunately few salespeople exploit the tremendous benefits that superior questions have on the selling relationship. The effective use of superior questions moves the selling process forward at a steady but unpressured pace while achieving your call agenda of discovering precisely what your customers needs are. Your objective is to lead your customer to a higher level of thinking. Your questions should stimulate the customer to go beyond conventional thinking and responses. Remember, the quality of your questions determines the quality of your solution. If you do not identify the customers dominant buying motives-their hot-buttons-your solution will be no better, and no different than your competitors. Differentiate yourself by asking smart questions and avoid the risk of being perceived as a commodity, a me-too solution. Probe in a manner that communicates sincerity, genuine interest, and empathy. You and your customer are engaged in a dialogue, a fluid, seamless conversation exploring the possibility of a win-win relationship.