Are You Excited?

You had better be! How do you expect me to be excited about your offer if I don't see some excitement in you? Everyone responds to excitement - unless they are dead! Let me give you an example.

My sister and I went car shopping this weekend. She wanted a reliable, economical but sporty car - preferably an import. She is young and single and makes great money so she can afford what she wants. She drove home in an Inferno Red Dodge Caliber! What happened? She got excited!

We went to several dealerships. We drove Hondas, Toyotas, Nissans, Hyundais. Nothing seemed to catch her eye. We tried a Ford and a Saturn. All of them handled well, the prices were good - everything she wanted. But there was no excitement. The salespeople listed off all the benefits of the car, gave her a price, resorted to pressure tactics and/or price cutting when she said she wanted to think it over - and ultimately lost the sale.

Then I told her I had read that Dodge had a fairly economical car called a Caliber. I thought it was rather ugly (not a Dodge fan), but we might as well check it out. We walked into the dealership and while we were waiting for a salesperson we started looking at the 300. Suddenly, a voice behind us speaks up. "Beautiful car isn't it?" We agreed that it was. The voice belonged to a young saleswoman who asked if she could help us. My sister told her what she was looking for and the young lady walked us over to the Calibers. (I was right - they ARE ugly!). After talking for a little bit more, my sister gave her the standard "I'll think about it" routine and got ready to leave. Here is where everything changed. Instead of trying to pressure her into a sale, she made one simple statement: "These cars aren't very exciting for a young, single businesswoman like you. I can understand why you need to think about it." My sister stopped and turned around and agreed. They were rather boring. "Let me show you something" the salesgirl said. She led us to the end of the row of cars. There sat another Caliber - a red one. The salesgirl said that this was the R/T model. We asked what that meant. She said it's the top of the line Caliber. "Let me show you what makes this one so different from the others." She got my sister to sit in the car. She showed her all the options it came with. After each one, she told my sister how it would impact her personally. "See the chill zone? It keeps your drinks cold. Won't it be exciting to be able to have cold water with you during the hot summer months? This is the satellite radio. Sirius is free for the first year. You said you travel a lot. Won't it be exciting to be able to listen to your favorite radio station whereever you go? I love that feature! It has side curtain air bags. Won't you be excited when you pick up your niece and nephew (my grandchildren) in your new car, knowing they are protected by the airbags? I am always proud to tell my customers that 5 of our cars received 5-star crash test ratings. The Caliber is one of them. Isn't that exciting?" On and on she went helping my sister see herself in this car and getting her EXCITED about it. By the time she was finished, my sister couldn't see herself in anything else and bought it.

Don't think your prospects are any different. Everybody responds to excitement. How do you convey excitement? Start by listing all the benefits of your product, service or opportunity. Then think about why they excite you. What makes you passionate about it? How can you share that passion? Our saleswoman said she started selling cars because she came from a family of all boys and the boys and her dad loved cars. She was around them all the time and so she learned to be passionate about them too. She said she wanted to help other women learn to love cars as much as she did. When she spoke, you could see her enthusiasm. It was contagious. It even got me excited and I'm not much of a car crazy.

You started your business for a reason. Something about it got you excited. Share that excitement with your prospects. Then you can get excited - over your paycheck!