“Awkward! Awkward! Awkward!” The Profitable Importance of Being a “Normal Person” when it comes to Selling!

Being ‘Normal’ when it comes to selling is a great thing! My partner and I had the most ‘Awkward’ Restaurant Experience every that inspired this post. Read on! (Thank you Fallout & Vault Boy for the image use).

Hello Awesome People!

Today has been an amazing, yet an equally whacky type of day in terms of exploring the concept of being “Awkward” Vs “Normal” in selling.

Firstly, I was very lucky to be with one of my Corporate Clients today who often tenders for “High Risk / High Reward” type of clients. It basically takes weeks to months of work to pick up a client and when they win, they win big. When they lose, it can be demoralizing.

As it’s a Business to Business type of “Consultative Selling” it’s all about selling as a “Normal Person”. That is telling the truth, giving the potential client information, creating a customized proposal and delivering them what they need.

Secondly, I was probably not so lucky to have dinner at a restaurant tonight. Fortunately I was with a very special person that made it a “Funny / Amusing” type of bonding experience. We both have had a busy week and on Friday night, we found a place to enjoy dinner that looked “Okay” on the service. It was a very strange experience from start to finish in that it was JUST AWKWARD! AWKWARD! AWKWARD!

This is a list of what happened to us during dinner:

1. They took ages to take our order.
2. They intentionally avoided eye contact with us.
3. They then took our order (eventually) and had trouble understanding we want all the food to come out at once.
4. They didn’t have in stock, 2 x exact flavours of Italian Soft Drink that we ordered (different flavours I may add, because “Nobody” has ever ordered it).
5. They brought out my special persons dish first while I ate the bread to keep me going.
6. They then reacted strangely when I asked for my main to come out.
7. They then sent 3 x people to apologize for it, each giving lame explanation as to what happened.
8. They then brought out my Wood Fired Pizza and the Chef took perhaps “Over Initiative” to take my partners Seafood dish away to “Pan Fry” it again while she was 1/2 way through it.
9. They wouldn’t make the Rocket & Pear Salad we order because the chef said (and I do quote) “The Rocket is Limpy”.
10. They wouldn’t make the Salad we ordered and created a random garden salad with Carrot in there.
11. They would often strangely touch me when they would apologize or say something.
12. They would always strangely ask to take our plates away at odd times during the meal.
13. They would have trouble getting the EFTPOS / PayPass Machine Working. They even asked us to “Sit Back Down” while they poorly tried to fix it.
14. They listened to the EFTPOS Scanner like it was a “Phone” (very reminiscent of Maxwell Smart listening to his Shoe Phone) in trying to debug it and get it back online.
15. They strangely gave commentary on my relationship status quoting “The Love Boat” when I was lightly embracing my partner as we were waiting for the girl to fix the EFTPOS Scanner.
16. They have strangely earned the title of the “Most Awkward Restaurant Ever!”

I know this sounds like more of a “Rant Blog” than me providing “Marketing Information & Insights” however, I want to bring it back to the importance of being a “Normal Person” when it comes to Selling, Customer Service and the like.

That is, when we try to hard, pretend to be cool, try and get “Too Smart” or even when some people don’t always tell the direct truth – it’s never good from a conversion viewpoint.

My advice and learnings from my Awesome Corporate Client and this REALLY AWKWARD experience? Be yourself, be normal, be direct and treat your customers and potential customers like “Normal People” as you would expect to be treated. “The Golden Rule” always sets up for success in Sales & Customer Relations.

Trust this has been another Helpful Topic. For more savvy tips and to keep up to date with New Ideas to Market your Business, please sign up to the “The Awesome Marketing Vault”

Love your work, and thank You for the read, enjoy the thoughts, Edward Zia sign out – Stay Awesome!!