Are you approaching them via door-to-door cold calling?

If so, I agree with Jett and if I was you, I would invest in kevlar clothing and start scanning the situations vacant. There must be a better way to earn a living.

If you want people to like you, and you're banging on their door, you'd better have something they need that solves a problem they've got. Whether they know that or not...

No, there must be a better way...

What are you selling?

Hello yash

I'll restrict my comments to your query--i.e. to gain entry and make them look at /hear or like you.

Cold calls present a problem to the potential client. They don't know you and hence may look at you first, with suspision . What ever you do or say should enable them to trust you enough to listen to you. THis is a near impossible task and thus quite frustrating...Yes. I do understand your predicament.

I was just thinking! Why not you first say that you would like to fix an appointment with them later, to talk to them about the product/service which you seek to share / sell, to them. Even before you finish with what you wanted to say, its likely that they would ask you about the matter. THis is the door opener you were looking for and you need to, in about 5-10 seconds, make the presentation of your life which will either induce them to welcome you inside for further information or they would show disinterest, in which case you could gracefully recede. In case they are interested but not able to spend time now, you could get their contact number and name, so that you could telephone, fix an appointment and come later. You would be lucky to get a sale in the first meeting like this. They are a prospecting venture, these cold calls, unless you are selling grand offers for which you need not make cold calls anyway.

So breaking the ice, requires a creative intervention by you depending on the comfort level of the person, their state of agitation, their expression, all of which you should gauge and take decisions about, within a few seconds. On your part you need to be pleasant looking, presentable and decent with optimal mannerisms. Your creative intervention could be a simple hello and a smile. This greeting works like magic almost always, but you get only a few seconds more. Sometimes being apologetic, if they look disturbed by your doorbell, will get you the extra seconds. Again it all depends on the person, time etc.

Once you gain entry and get them to spend time with you (which they will, when they get to trust you), its left to your competency, knowledge etc, to achieve the rest. No tricks or tactics work here, we expect modern customers to see through all that. Its your business to deliver the goods after they have done you a favor of granting you some time. Have i been too harsh..that's not the intention. My point is maybe these points make you take the most conservative stand about customers. That way you could also expect the dogbarks and madcow responses et.al from certain customers. You have a tough job, but you are the best, when it comes to understanding people, isn't it? I guess you can handle any type of customer... it's all in the mind...the more the difficult customers you meet, the greater is your appreciation of people because you know how to handle them..at least..almost!

Hope these thoughts help!!

All the best!

Hi Yash

If you have an appointment with your customers, they do recognise you can possibly solve their needs.

Yes people buy from people they like, you just have to relax.

Speak to your current customers, ask them why they went with you apart from you businss product/service, what did they like about you?

If you really do feel insecure about your psychology, why not attend a sales and confidence building seminar or get advice from a mentor or sales coach.

hope this helps you Yash.

Zahid

hi yash,

here is one thing not to do:

Dont go around the back of the house you are selling to and knock on the back door.

we recently had a sales person try to come into the house thou the back Door WITH OUT being invited he was trying to sell "sky televison" the equialent of "cable" in New Zealand.

lets just say he banged his face into my fist a couple of times when i caught him in the kitchen.

sorry if this doent help

Sweetasman01

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