Business owners should be more like doctors.

Forget selling and start asking your customers where they hurt. Broken
leg? Ulcer? Empty wallet?

Don’t sell, diagnose. And what are you as a doctor looking for? Well,
of course: that ever-illusive, yet ever- profitable disease called Dropped
Jaw Syndrome.

OK, it may not be in any medical book. But Dropped Jaw Syndrome,
however rare, is known to anyone who’s ever tried to sell something.
The customer walks into your store, listens to your pitch and falls
into an awestruck trance. “I’ll take three of them.”

Joking aside, the dropped jaw, or at least its symptoms, are the fuel
behind every sale. When a customer is persuaded to buy, their
reaction isn’t logical. You’ve connected with the part of their brain
that decides if you and your product are believable, the limbic system.
Sure, you still need to persuade with facts, but logic is a distant
second to their desire to buy, their reflexive dropping jaw.

Diagnosing Dropped Jaw
The key is finding the dropped jaw, tracking the symptoms back to their
source. But it’s there. And it’s quite easy to find once you stop thinking
about your product for a moment and focus on the customer… I mean,
patient.

Don’t believe me? Well, put on a white coat, hang a stethoscope around
your neck and do some market tests of your own. But this is a test you
have to do face to face. Forget the demographic studies, sales plans
and benchmark reports, and get in front of a customer.

Now, take his temperature, make your pitch. And follow it through the
customer’s reaction.

Did his jaw drop? Hmm… You must have done something wrong. Try
again, but listen like a doctor searching for a heart murmur. Ask a
question, offer information, and then hear the subtleties of his
response. And when you’re diagnosing a customer, instead of trying
to sell your product, something changes.

You become more attuned to the subtle dropped jaw and related body
language. And you ask more accurate questions. You notice which of
the claims and benefits penetrate the customer’s protective indifference,
sparking real interest. Of course, most salespeople already do this to a
degree, but it must be done intentionally, consciously.

The true advantage of Dropped Jaw Syndrome comes from changing
your role for a moment, from selling and telling to assessing what
customers want, even when they can’t say it in words. Demand that
you live up to their desires. Because if you’re not dropping jaws, you’re
in danger of falling behind the competition. Worse, you’re probably
overlooking your company’s uniqueness.

Diagnosing Your Pitch
In searching for dropped-jaw reactions, some companies have made
unbelievable claims central to their promotions. We’ve all seen the
TV commercials where “Crazy Joe” says he’s so insane he’s practically
giving away the furniture in his store.

Better are claims that are striking and stand out from the competition,
but don’t over-promise. Consider “Have it your way” (Burger King) or “It
takes a licking and keeps on ticking”(Timex). In establishing your own
unique proposition, the dropped jaw test is quick and reliable.

Customers, whether they know it or not, are very good at distinguishing
between businesses they trust and those they don’t. Let them tell you
how you’re doing.

Building Customer Confidence
I discovered the Dropped Jaw Syndrome years ago. It started with my
claim that I can assess the health of a business by looking only at its
business card. And when I would point out the subtle messages on
their cards, most of them unintended, people’s jaws would drop.

The value of the dropped jaw test is the perspective it imparts. By
listening to the customer or putting yourself in her shoes, you’re more
likely to notice the “small potatoes” signals you’re sending. Such
telltale signs aren’t based on the business size or age. But once you
recognize them they can be easily repaired.

As you play doctor, it’s your job to notice what hurts the customer and
cure it.When you find ways to make your customers jaws drop, you’ll
take their pain away. And that will make your business a healthy one.

       Dr. Lynella Grant is an expert on the signals that make up the body
       language of a business. Author of The Business Card Book and
       Stop Looking Like Small Potatoes    http://www.giantpotatoes.com
       Off the Page Press (719) 395-9450