Do you meet with prospective clients over breakfast, lunch, or dinner as part of your sales process?
Well, here is a hidden secret that can potentially give you a big competitive advantage.
You might be surprised to learn that what you choose to eat at a meeting can have a major impact on how quickly you get your prospect to trust you, and ultimately get them to “buy” what you’re “selling”.
On a recent NPR Morning Edition radio segment, host David Greene spoke with Shankar Vedantam. Shankar is NPR’s social science correspondent, and is also the host of the Hidden Brain podcast (I highly suggest you check this out).
On his podcast Shankar interviewed Ayelet Fishback, a researcher from the University of Chicago, where she studies social psychology, management and consumer behavior. Ayelet is a leading expert on motivation and decision making. Her recent research has shown that when you meet with a prospect or client, if you eat the same food they are eating, you build trust faster, and therefore might actually get them to buy into what your selling 50% faster.
It’s astounding to think that this little change in what takes place at the table may dramatically improve your ability to close the sale. You can listen to the interview here.
As always, have a great week!