Let us proceed to a consideration of the psychology of the Meet and Greet. The most important thing at this stage is to awaken a feeling of receptivity in your prospect’s mind. And the main factor of success is a proper mental attitude on your part. What is a proper Attitude in the Meet and Greet? It is the Attitude that you must maintain throughout your working day. Its main elements are courage, confidence, self-respect, balance, clarity of thought and determination. These are largely interdependent and their presence almost ensures the related qualities of Genius, Courtesy, and Tact.
It has been said that the proper Attitude in the Meet and Greet is the one that you must constantly maintain. The right time to take it on is the moment you hit the ground in the morning. Square your shoulders and with enthusiasm and zeal (not dread) start your day. Enter the office with a cheerful greeting. Go to your first prospect with your mind well balanced, your faculties at the limit and your feelings in tune with your work.
Let your mental attitude manifest in your bearing and direction. Look at the part you want to act. Take advantage of the law of reciprocal action and reaction between mind and body. It is one of the largest agencies at your disposal and one of the easiest to get up and running. You can’t look cheerful without feeling cheerful. You can’t feel depressed without appearing gloomy. Try a simple experiment in this direction. Stand with your mind as blank as possible. Roll your eyes up. In sixty seconds you find your thoughts elevated. Now look at the ground. Almost immediately you feel a tendency to daydream. Now look to the sides. Thoughts of distrust and suspicion intrude on the mind. In these small tests you are using the smallest set of muscles in the body. You can get much more pronounced results by employing the larger muscles in a longer action. Don’t wait until you are faced with your task to adopt the right Attitude. you can’t do it. The engineer doesn’t wait to start gaining power until he’s on the track. He makes it to the roundabout, and when he’s coupled to his train, he’s ready to speed off.
Now, a few brief observations on the main elements of the right Attitude.
Fear or timidity is the least excusable of our faults. You are a business person who comes across a prospect who, whether you realize it or not, needs your help. If you’re doing your job honestly, you’re at least equal to him. If you’re doing it efficiently, you’re probably your superior. Remember, your mission is to do him an invaluable service. Keep these facts prominently in your mind’s eye. Get the right attitude. Shyness clearly has a detrimental effect on your work. It is instinctively associated in our minds with shame and weakness. The man who approaches us with shame makes an unpleasant impression on us. Why? Because experience has taught us that the man who addresses us in a withdrawn manner is going to borrow money or say something that will be unpleasant to listen to. Before going so far as to say his name, he has often created an adverse impression with an air of hesitation and apology. If you are afflicted by this defect, you must overcome it. Confidence is born from honest intention, the awareness of the capacity and the conviction of the value of the thing we have to sell. He is a great force in the Meet and Greet. The confident person is the personification of power. Instinctively we begin to break down the barriers before his arrival. It is as if a pygmy saw a giant come with a large sign inscribed: “I’m going to do something.” The little one would say, “I don’t know what it is, but I have no doubt that you will do it if you want to.” This is the main asset of the best salespeople I have worked with. He opens doors for them and empties their wallets. They take advantage of the principle of associated ideas and the fact that frank speech and open manners naturally suggest honesty. Acquire Confidence by forming a solid substructure of efficiency on which to rest.
Of self-esteem I need say little. It depends on the inherent characteristics and the acquired qualities. You can’t do a decent role without it. Promote it by all means at your disposal. Take care of it as your most valuable possession. Guard yourself jealously against the slightest deterioration of it. Note that this is totally under his control. No one but yourself can insult his self-esteem. Another can arouse in you any emotion but one. He can’t make you feel bad. That feeling must emanate from some fault of yours.
Poise is one of the most impressive features. The man who laughs uncontrollably, talks excitedly, or spills his heart shows weakness. On the other hand, the man who rarely allows his emotions and feelings to run wild suggests a reserve of strength. Clarity of thought, which is, of course, the mother of clarity of speech, is always possible only for a well-balanced mind. There is no more effective agency at the seller’s orders than the clear expression of a well-defined thought. Its most essential element is a deep understanding of the product line and the car-buying process. I can make a statement related to a car deal more clearly than the best speaker or the smartest man in the world, if he ignores the subject. And because my statement (though not as eloquently uttered) would penetrate his understanding more than his, it would convince him before he did. Don’t spend time practicing rhetoric. Learn to think logically and honestly. Spare no effort to gain a thorough understanding of his subject. And you can be sure that his presentation will be clear and forceful. That is true eloquence, regardless of the verbiage.
Determination is the quality of being serious and determined; the determination to achieve a purpose. If you approach a potential customer with a serious attitude and a single-minded determination to secure a solution for their automotive needs, believe me, you will be successful more often than not. The objection vanishes before a Determined Attitude. A dear thing is a thing done to more than half.
Now let’s take these qualities, combine them into a perfect expression of ourselves. What is the resulting fabric? Personality. The seller’s Attitude should be an expression of his Personality. The seller’s Attitude should be indicative of the qualities we have considered. The true Attitude is the natural one. It follows that the Salesperson Personality must embrace Courage, Confidence, Self-respect, Balance and Determination.
