“Everybody likes a compliment.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
Sometimes, the best way to close a deal isn’t a cleverly constructed sales pitch that influences the customer to make a decision. It is making the customer feel good about themselves in that moment. Paying compliments can bring customers to your side. Maybe it is giving them credit (whether they deserve it or not) during an interaction. Making someone pleased with themselves is never inconsequential.
Paying compliments isn’t an art form, but there are ways to do it within the context of customer engagement that seamlessly sets you up for success. Here are a few simple, kind things to say to win your customers over:
“You’re smart to ask.”
“Sounds like you’ve done a lot of research.”
“As I’m sure you already know…”
“Looks like you know exactly what you want.”
“From listening to you, it’s clear you’ve done this before.”
“You sound like either you’ve sold cars before or just have a lot of good experience buying them.”
“Great eye! Not a lot of people catch that.”
“Thanks so much for your quick reply.”
“Good catch!”
“You’re hard work definitely saved you time.”
Paying compliments works for coworkers as well. (Positive relationships are powerful at work, whether you’re a leader, or a team member. Making others feel good about their choices builds meaningful connections.) Hopefully you don’t need more guidance on how to be kind to others with your words, but it needs to be said to be done. In an industry filled with bro-cultures, big egos, leader boards, and monster spiffs, and aggressive sales meetings, how we treat others makes the places we work more vibrant.
That same impact we know well-wishes and back-pats of encouragement have on our coworkers, too does it impact the general feeling of likemindedness and rapport. Sales spiels have their place. So too does paying compliments. It can affect the profit you make, the performance you achieve, the perception those around have of you, and the pride in yourself.
(I wrote my first Sales Tip #1 blog, expecting it to be a series, in 2017. Granted, I’ve likely written 100 blogs between then and now that house countless sales tips, but alas, it was this cut image below that reminded me of it.)
