They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. However, in sales it can be very counterproductive. One of the primary goals of consultative selling and prospect centered selling is to connect with a prospect. The reason you need to connect at a deep level as possible is to create a conduit through which information and emotion can be exchanged. If you adopt someone else’s persona or imitate them, you will come across as fake and insincere. This will definitely derail your efforts at bonding with the prospect and make it very difficult to connect in any real way. You will find it very difficult to gather real insight from the prospect. You will be relegated to gathering only facts, meetings will be shorter and harder to come by. Training is a great thing but don’t imitate the trainer whether it be your boss or a consultant. Rather seek to understand the concepts and adapt them to your own style. In short, the best way to connect with a prospect is to be yourself. Let your true personality shine through and you will be viewed as sincere. If you are using an effective selling process and the prospect views you as a real, sincere, and caring professional that will go a long way to taking you to the highest levels of the sales profession.
