Salespeople are always looking for some magical sales skill that will bring them more leads, help them book more appointments or close more sales. It has been my experience that some of the most effective sales skills are not being taught as part of the sales process.
One sales skill I discovered that paid me huge dividends when I used it consistently was sending thank you notes. Thank you notes are an excellent way to show people you appreciate them. In Dale Carnegie’s book How To Win Friends & Influence People he says that the deepest urge in human nature is to feel important. One of the best ways to make a person feel important is by giving honest and sincere appreciation.
Many people will complain when they receive poor service, however, they’ll remain silent when they’ve received good service.
I decided that I wanted to be different. That I wanted to be the exception rather than the rule.
So I sent thank you notes to prospects, clients, people I met, thanking them for taking the time to speak with me, for using my services, for sending me a referral, for helping me with a task. What ever reason I could find to thank someone, I sent notes. I’m not talking about some boiler plate, typed up form letter. I mean a personalized hand written note from me.
Now the key to this sales skill is doing it with honest and sincere appreciation. Doing it unselfishly, not asking for anything and not expecting anything in return.
And what started happening was I began to receive more of the things I was thankful for.
You see, by using this simple sales skill and being grateful to someone for what they have done, you’ll attract more of the same into your life. It changes your focus from the negative to the positive and what ever we focus on in our life, we manifest.
If you focus on what’s not going right in your sales career you will attract more of the same. If you focus on what’s going right, again you will attract more of the same.
By taking the time to utilize this one sales skill I was rewarded in three years time with 100% referral business. The people I’d sent thank you notes to were happy to refer friends and family to me for making them feel appreciated.
You have a choice. You can continue to do the things you’re doing and getting the results you’re getting. Or you can choose to take a few minutes to put this sales skill in to practice and see what benefits you realize.
Jim Klein provides salepeople with effective strategies that attract new clients, build customer relationships, and increase sales, GUARANTEED.
Get free sales training by subscribing to our free newsletter “The Sales Advisor”.