marketing+sales: What's Love Got to Do With It?

In today's sales environment, having the most product knowledge and the best pitch or presentation can only take you so far. What really makes prospects and clients eager to buy from you is the amount of love they feel from you.

Yes—love.

While most people think that love has no place in business-and especially in sales—the opposite is true. Love is like a magnet. The more of it you show others, the more you'll attract positive outcomes (in this case, sales).

You don't have to woo your clients with candy and flowers. Rather, you need to show compassion and be genuinely interested in the other person. These emotional factors carry a lot of weight in today's selling situations. Savvy salespeople know the value of love and display it to their clients daily. Here are three ways you can, too.

1. Acknowledge prospects and clients.

It's common for clients to go with a more expensive product or one with fewer features simply because they like the salesperson. If that doesn't make sense to you, consider that the greatest human need is to feel appreciated. Especially in today's technology age where person-to-person contact is often limited to emails or texts, developing a real bond with others and showing love by acknowledging them is more important than ever.

For example, Tina sold merchant credit card services. There was a large company she wanted to get in with, but the decision-maker continually told her no—that he was happy with their current merchant services provider. Still, Tina continued to follow up with him, taking the time to talk about things other than her product. When his birthday rolled around, she sent him a funny, yet tasteful, singing telegram. He called her on the verge of tears, thanking her for the kind gesture and revealing that no one—not even his wife or kids—remembered his birthday. The next day, he signed up and became one of Tina's best clients. A little acknowledgement goes a long way.