Sales Leadership with Jim Pancero
Sales Leadership with Jim Pancero
Selling using physical comfort zones
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How aware are you of the physical comfort zones you have between yourself and your customers? Being too far away from a buyer could be seen as being aloof. But if you stand too close, you could be seen as pushy and aggressive.
The first zone is your INTIMATE ZONE where you are in an intimate relationship, whether as a spouse, child or parent. You could be sitting next to them and even touching their arm, but they’ll not care due to your intimacy.
The next comfort zone is your PERSONAL ZONE. This is the space of your personal friends.
Third is the STRANGER ZONE where there are unknowns with this person.
The final outside zone is the DANGER ZONE. Being 6’ 7”, this space has been a challenge for me. Being so tall I'm in the Danger Zone for most people and need to give them more space or I'm going to increase their resistance making them uncomfortable.
What can you do to help your reps understand the newer their customer relationship, the more physical distance they’ll need to be comfortable with you and your message?
Today’s video discusses how to control the spatial distances you have with buyers, and the direct impact this will have on your ability to close business and sell even more!
How aware are your salespeople of the physical comfort zones they have around their customers? Hi, I'm Jim Pancero, helping you and your team be more effective in selling today. And the reality is we have these physical comfort zones. How much distance we need to have with a customer to have them be more comfortable with us or if we're too far away that it would turn them off. This is information originally came around the 1970s and just the idea of identifying these zones and talking about how persuasive you can be within those zones. The first zone is your intimate zone. This is where you are in an intimate relationship, a spouse, a child, a parent, where you could be sitting right next to them and touching your arm and you wouldn't care because they're in your intimate zone and you're most comfortable with them. The next zone outside of that is your personal zone where your personal friends are. But if I don't know you that well, then I'm a stranger. That distance is going to need to be greater or else your resistance is going to increase and you're probably not going to listen to what I have to say. The other problem is if we're in a personal relationship and I'm too distant from you, acting like a stranger zone kind of person. There's a good chance that could also cause you some discomfort, wondering why is your friend being so distant. The final zone is called your danger zone. This is a problem I've had in selling. I'm 6'7 tall, freakishly large. So, if I'm talking to a customer and I'm a foot taller than they are, I've got to be sensitive that I'm not even in the stranger zone if we're first meeting. I'm in a danger zone and need to give them more space or I'm going to increase their resistance and make them uncomfortable, hurting my opportunities to sell. What can you do to make sure your sales reps understand the newer the relationship is, the more distance physically they have to have to maximize their persuasiveness and how they can control these zones. Because when we understand the physical presence we have with a customer and we can lower their resistance, I bet you'll sell even more.