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Soupy Sales

Len Foley recently contributed an interesting article to the Sales Training Institute's Web site entitled "The Top Five (Most Idiotic) Sales Techniques." Interesting because the word "idiotic" is rarely used in business writing, and interesting because of the tips and techniques Foley covers -- actions most of us have probably experienced, and behaviors Foley suggests people avoid.

They top five most idiotic sales techniques include:

• The Porcupine Close Answering a question with a "leading question" that forces the client into the direction you want him or her to go. Example: "Does this dress come in blue?" "Would you like the dress in blue?"
• Leading Questions You're asking the client a question that you know they already know the answer to. Who's gonna say they want products that are of poor quality or dishonest suppliers with poor reputations?
• Matching and Mirroring the Client Mirroring is a process whereby the salesperson mimics the clients body movements, breathing patterns, and voice tonality, pitch, tempo, etc. in an attempt to gain rapport and make the client feel as though he's talking with someone "just like himself."
• The Tie-Down Technique Nothing more than a tag-along-line the salesperson throws in whenever the client says something he or she agrees with. Isn't it? Don't you? Couldn't you? Wouldn't you?
• The Erroneous Conclusion Technique An intentional blunder on the part of the salesperson that gets the client to reveal information he or she may not have otherwise shared.

What else have you seen that salespeople need to be more aware of -- and not do?