The Sales Buzz:

Answering that question may be easier than you think. In fact, you won’t even need a magic mirror–just your own powers of observation. By simply paying more attention, you can make sure the answer is yes every time.

On your next sales call, take time to study your client, such as how often he makes eye contact, how she’s holding her head or how he positions his hands.

Here’s why: People want to do business with people they perceive are like them. One way you can communicate that the two of you are simpatico is by matching, or mirroring, the client’s movements.

In fact, there is a whole field of study called neuro-linguistic programming, or NLP, that many sales professionals find helpful. Developed in the 1970s, NLP can teach you how to use mirroring to build rapport and influence others.

For example, one tip from NLP is to listen to how a client is speaking and match it. Try to use the same pace and volume. Listen to the words being used. Is the client, for example, using a lot of visual words? Mirror them back. This can be very effective on the telephone. In person, copy a customer’s body posture or hand motions. In other words, be a mirror!

This can be a lot of fun. Try it out in the office and see if you can mirror a co-worker. And then take it on the road for great results.

Are you a jack-of-all-trades? I hope not.

Schools teach us early on that we can be a “jack-of-all-trades,” that we can do and learn everything. Parents reinforce this by focusing on the “C” on the report card and not the “A.” It’s a mistake.

Let’s face it, we all have weaknesses. And I’m here to tell you that you can and should own up to your weaknesses.

In an earlier blog, I told you to play to your strengths. It’s equally important to know your weaknesses. What drains you? What situation or jobs makes you say, “Oh, I really don’t want to do this!”

You can be good at a job that requires using your weakest skills, but you won’t enjoy it. An example is a high-performing sales pro who can’t stand the paperwork. It drains him. Or someone more suited to nurturing existing business relationships who works in an office where constantly bringing in new accounts is key.

My advice is to avoid situations that zap you. If you can’t do that, then hire out a portion of the job you don’t enjoy or partner with someone who is strong where you are weak.

Don’t dwell on your shortcomings, but don’t ignore them either. By knowing what situations to avoid, you can improve your productivity.

Think about the most outgoing, personable, confident person you know–the one who is always the life of the party. Let’s put her in a solitary job that requires little or no interaction with people, but lots of paperwork.

Now think about the person you know who organizes his sock drawer, parks in the same spot every day at work and always takes lunch alone at 12:30 precisely. Let’s plunk him on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

My point is this: We all have unique strengths and talents. Marcus Buckingham talks about just that in his book, “Go Put Your Strengths to Work.” So does Nate Booth in “Tiger Traits: 9 Success Secrets You Can Discover From Tiger Woods to Be a Business Champion.”

Don’t waste time trying to be something you are not. Instead, identify and nurture your strengths. Think about the tasks or jobs that give you the most gratification or the situations in which you are most productive. What do you enjoy doing? What have you learned to do very easily?

When possible, work in your zone. Play to your strengths. Sales positions are not all the same. Find the one that’s a fit for you. We’re not all alike, but we all have equal potential for success.

Modeling isn’t just for the runway and Christie Brinkley. All of us need to do some modeling in our careers.

Successful people often talk about how they modeled their early career after someone they admired. Is there a broadcast news anchor who hasn’t studied Walter Cronkite or a businessman who hasn’t tried to analyze the success of Warren Buffet?

Whom would you like to model yourself after?

It could be a colleague, a veteran in your trade association or someone in the community. Think about a person you know who has the skill set or successful track record that you desire.

If you are new to sales, modeling yourself after a more seasoned pro or even forming a mentoring relationship with that person can be a tremendous asset.

If you have someone in mind, take him or her to lunch to talk. Explore ways in which you might learn from this person. Be sure to choose the right person. If you are not particularly flamboyant, for example, don’t choose someone who is 200 percent charisma. You’ll feel overwhelmed and inadequate.

Choose someone you like and whose values, skills and attributes make a nice match with your own. Remember, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

A hostess approaches a husband and wife standing alone and says, “Table for how many?”

“I don’t know,” the hubby replies.

Socialite Nancy Astor says to an annoying and drunk Winston Churchill: “Winston, if you were my husband, I’d put poison in your coffee.” Churchill famously replies: “Nancy, if you were my wife, I’d drink it.”

Mad Magazine devoted a whole section to repartee, calling it “Snappy Comebacks to Stupid Questions.” Churchill, Mark Twain, Mae West and Groucho Marx elevated snappy retorts to an art form.

Great comebacks are a wonderful tool in sales, too. Of course, they won’t be insulting. Not unless you really don’t want the sale.

Every sales professional needs what I call The Great Response. Let’s say you’re trying to persuade a customer to attend a seminar, implement a new service or switch products, and he says, “I don’t have time for that.” What’s your response? I hope it isn’t, “Um, well, OK.”

Next time you find yourself in that spot, try: “That’s what average business owners say, but you’re not average or you wouldn’t be here. The people who do this are above average.”

The Great Response works in all kinds of situations where you meet resistance. Like Churchill, you just have to be one step ahead with a great answer.

Pitching isn’t just a baseball term. But just like a ballplayer, you have to know what ball to pitch in every circumstance.

Put another way, you have to know what emotional area to target when you’re pitching your product or service. When you’re talking to an entrepreneur, for instance, remember that these independent people don’t want anyone bossing them around. They highly value their control and freedom.

You might say to an entrepreneur, “I know you value your independence and being able to control your own destiny. Let me tell you how my product can enhance your already great product.”

A purchasing agent is a different animal. You don’t want to throw a curveball that is going to seem risky. The emotional target area for purchasing agents is security. They don’t want to take a chance they’ll make a bad buy and be chastised.

You could say to a purchasing agent, “We know you like to make safe and secure decisions. Let me tell you why my service meets the criteria.” Bring up testimonials and your many years of dedicated service – anything that spells safe and secure.

Before every presentation, remember to ask yourself, “What’s the emotional bull’s-eye for this person?” And then it’s a matter of ready, set, aim.

Have you faced this scenario?

It’s Monday, and the week is looking particularly dead. You wander over for a cup of coffee, stopping to chat with co-workers. That kills a few minutes. Back at the desk, you swear you can hear the clock ticking because it’s so quiet in your office.

No appointments. No pressing priorities. Just the telephone staring you down. You know what you have to do. But every time you even think about it, your hands sweat, your heart races and you suddenly remember some important filing.

Yep. You have Cold Call Annoyance. But I have the cure. Pick up the phone! Now! Not after lunch. Not after your second cup of coffee. Not Tuesday. Now.

Let’s face it, if there were a way to sell without the cold call, most of us would sign up for that plan. I have bad news. No such dream exists. So get over it.

The worst that can happen is you get a no. But if you don’t call, you have an automatic no. Cold calling only has an upside, except for the time involved.

Oh, and a root canal won’t seem so bad anymore.

A can opener opens your green beans or it doesn’t. Your Mr. Coffee either brews a decent cup of java or it doesn’t. When you test drive a new car, it either suits you or it goes back on the lot.

What I’m driving at is that a product either does a job or it doesn’t. You have some definitive benchmarks you can use to judge it. However, customer perception of a service is much more subjective. And that makes selling your service trickier. You have to know more precisely what the customer wants from your business.

Have you ever recommended a dentist, barber or other service provider to a friend, only to have the friend report that he was disappointed? I have.

And it isn’t because the service suddenly went south. It’s because what I want from the dentist may be very different from what my neighbor wants. So if you offer a service, you have to define with each customer, “What is your expectation?”

You want the repeat business and the positive word of mouth, and one way to do that is to know what your customer wants and then deliver it. The more you can nail this down, the more likely you are to succeed.

It’s time to start thinking like a doctor and asking, “Where does it hurt?”

Your job is not to sell what you have but to sell what your customer wants or needs. What area is causing him or her the most pain? And, more important, how can your product or service alleviate that pain?

After all, a doctor would never come in with a bag full of products and offer you the first thing he pulls out. A vial of insulin hardly does you any good if you’re not diabetic and you came in with a sprained ankle. And imagine how irritating it would be if the doctor insisted, “But that’s what I have in my bag!”

While I understand that you have to sell what’s in your bag, it’s not an excuse to skip your diagnostic work. You still have to make your product or service work for each customer.

And like the lion who doesn’t forget who removed the thorn from his paw, your customer is going to remember you and your product or service much more favorably if you improve conditions for his or her company.

So, keep a bottle of Advil on your desk to help you remember that your job, too, is to relieve pain.

Jenny Craig is doing it. So are Comcast, Campbell’s and, of course, McDonald’s. I’m talking about celebrity endorsements.

The big dogs in marketing know that testimonials add immediate credibility and are a great complement to any product or service.

But don’t worry. You won’t have to come up with millions to lure actress Kirstie Alley away from Jenny Craig. You just need your own roster of star clients to step forward.

Are your clients raving about your product or service or telling friends and family about you? If so, it’s time to include them in your marketing game plan.

You may be surprised to find out that your clients are happy to do a testimonial for you. All you have to do is ask. You can even offer to write a testimonial for the client to approve.

A dialogue might go like this: “If you are pleased with my service, would you be willing to give me a testimonial? If you don’t have time to write it, I would be happy to do it for you if I can put it on your letterhead.”

You can boast all you want about the benefits of your product, but nothing sells it like your own clients.