"Leave It To Beaver's" Eddie Haskell was one "smoothe dude."

by Joe Crisara

Many of you are probably too young to remember a television show from back in the 1960's called "Leave It to Beaver."

The show was a weekly sitcom which featured the stuff that normal American boys did back in the olden days that would inevitably lead them to get into trouble. It always ended with the boys figuring out how to solve their problems and in the end always reflecting on the "life lesson learned" from their actions. It was enormously popular back in the day and you may even see reruns of it today.

One of the characters was a young boy named Eddie Haskell. Eddie was a friend to the two main characters, Beaver and his brother Wally. One of the funniest things that Eddie always did was give what seemed like a phony compliment to Beaver's mom whenever he stopped over. "What a lovely hair style you have today Mrs. Cleaver," Eddie would gush. Mrs. Cleaver would always smile as if she knew that Eddie was trying to butter her up for something he may want later.

I remember that back when I started to learn how to sell, that I sounded a lot like Eddie Haskell. In my travels, I hear Eddie Haskell in a lot of techs and sales people who open their call this way too. Imagine a tech at the door saying, "What a lovely home you have Mrs. Johnson" as if this would be the key to creating a sincere bond with this customer. It would be easy to think being overly polite wouldn't hurt but upon further investigation   have found that it does indeed create a problem later on.

I have found that after asking customers what they thought of this type of greeting that many of them thought the same thing that June Cleaver thought when Eddie "buttered" her up. The thought is that you are being nice so you can get something later.

One customer told me, "I expect the tech or sales person to be on point and get down to business."  Another told me, "I feel very uncomfortable taking a compliment from someone I haven't really got to know yet." They added, "It sounds like a sales pitch is coming." These are statements that are in direct conflict with many "traditional" sales training methodology.

What should someone do when opening the call then? In his book, Maximum Influence, Kurt Mortensen explains the law of connectivity and how it can affect your sales call. Obviously people prefer to buy from people they know, like and trust. You must ask yourself then, is "over the top" flattery creating a bond or creating distance from the buyer? I think in most cases in creates a distance which eventually can be made up at a later point during the call. But why create distance at all if you can create a bond to begin with?

Here is a tip to use when opening your call

DEFAULT TO USING THEIR FIRST NAME

Use the first name when first meeting the buyer and every time after that as well. Stop acting like Eddie Haskell when you get to the door. No more, "Nice landscaping you have Mrs. Jones." Instead it should sound like, "Betty? (Yes) Hello, my name is Mark with Mark's Plumbing. How are you feeling today?" The secret is to act as if you have known them for years when you meet them.

You want them to have the feeling that you may have met them before but they can't remember it. In fact I have had many customers tell me this exact thing. "Joe, have we met before?" they ask. "I'm not sure; do you go out to eat at some of the local restaurants? Maybe we have met there" I reply.

Many people have told me especially in the southern part of the U.S. that they think it is rude for younger people to use the first name of a senior. I have done many "ride-a-longs" with techs and sales people in every part of the country and have yet to fail seeing an instant bond being created by using the first name right from the beginning.

If you feel uncomfortable with this, then try using BOTH first and last names. "Betty Johnson? (Yes) Hi my name is Mark, it's so very nice to finally meet you today. Betty, what inspired you to call us out here?"

Use the first name and use it often. If we have gotten to the point in this world that one person cannot use the other's first name without coming off rude, then that is a world I do not want to be a part of. Nothing sounds as sweet to someone as the sound of their own name. After all, their own parents gave it to them, why not use it? Use it to create an instant "connection" and to act "as if" you already know the customer before you meet them. Even Eddie Haskell called his REAL friends by their first name, why don't you?