One of the most important skills you, as a salesperson, can master is the ability to open a closed mind.
Most minds, like mine, are a bit closed most of the time. So you’ll have to do this every day. Every. Single. Day.
A book that you don’t see referenced every day is ” How to Improve Your Human Relations By Straight Thinking “, written by William J. Reilly around 1942. It’s another great read on influencing people, much like Carnegie’s ” How to Win Friends and Influence People.”
In his book, Reilly says that the first thing you have to do to open a closed mind is to adopt the right attitude.
If you look upon a person as the enemy, you can’t open his mind.
If you look upon him as a dimwit/loser/crackhead, you’ll never open his mind.
You have to accept everyone as an intelligent, cooperative individual.
Reilly contends that there are four mental levels :
1) The closed mind – this is the most common. This is a tough sale.
2) The open mind – the kind that says ” show me. ”
3) The confident mind – they trust you and will listen to reason.
4) The believers – The very few who say ” If you say so, I’ll buy it. ”
EDIT: Your job, if you choose to accept this mission, is to elevate your prospect as near Level 4 as possible.
Good luck.
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