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November 30, 2011 at 07:00 PM
Last month, we explored how to sell to women. Now, let’s talk about men.
Men often assess their value by how well they gain status and accomplishment. Linguist Deborah Tannen discusses this constant one-upmanship that men tend to engage in as “alignment.” Men often try to position themselves higher than the person they’re talking to, hence bragging and verbal displays of ego. In a man’s world, one gains status by giving orders or advice and getting others to follow them.
Therefore, in selling to men, allow them to position themselves above you. Your own level of self-confidence will dictate how high you will allow prospects to align themselves. But by doing this you will also give your prospect a sense of security by granting him more status in the relationship. Sociologist Erving Goffman took this idea of alignment a step further. Men, when confronted with a problem, tend to elevate their status by trivializing or ignoring the concern by saying something like, “It’s no big deal.” But in discussing emotions with men, relate the problem to someone else’s dilemma or mention it as a challenge you would like to be solved.
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