Rick Roberge and I were having a conversation this afternoon and he wanted to know when I was going to get down to business and start sharing my thoughts on selling.  Okay, I will start with a little nugget that I have always used called 'being a chameleon.'  Rick calls it 'matching' and I thought it was too obvious to mention, so I left it out of my Sell Like A Girl manuscript.

Just as the chameleon protects itself by changing its colors to match its environment, so should the sales professional in a selling situation.

You are on the customer's/prospect's turf and you need to blend in.   That way they see you as one of their own or at least someone who 'get's' them.  Look too flashy and they peg your for a "sales type"-slick and smooth but not worthy of their trust.  Dress down too much and they won't have respect for what you are trying to tell them.  You may appear not to care about doing business at all.

The same goes for your personality.  Don't divulge yourself until you listen to where the prospect is going and only expose what you find compatible to the customer's mindset.

The expression I used but deleted from my manuscript is "Your personality is like a house of 1,000 windows" open only those that reflect your customer's personality.  Never do any of us open all our windows to any one person, except maybe our soulmates and even then it can be risky.

Mirror your customer's personality traits with the ones that you share and she will feel good about you, comfortable in your presence(the warm and fuzzies).

You will begin to mirror their language by listening and tuning in to their thought process.  And I don't mean the kind of "mirroring" recommended by sales gurus who think that by crossing your legs when your customer does or watching their eye movement to determine whether to use "feel", "think" or "see" words, you'll score sales points.

That's it for now kids.