How to sell Professional Services in 3 Paragraphs

As told by a lawyer, here is how to sell professional services in three paragraphs:

"The best salesman I have ever encountered is Barron Thomas, who sells real estate and airplanes in Los Angeles, Scottsdale, Ariz., and all over Texas. His basic ideas, which rank high in the firmament of good ideas, are generally two: bond with your buyer, and listen to your buyer.

"In other words, align your interests with those of the buyer. Don't try to shove something down his throat. Don't try to hoodwink him. Just listen to what he needs and wants, see if you have the good or service he needs and wants and then arrange to make it easy to buy. Make sure that the buyer is a real buyer with a real need, a real timetable to buy and the real means to buy. Then satisfy that need.

It is also important to be a friend to your buyer. In fact, I observe that almost all success in life comes down to being a friend to someone: a friend to the voter, a friend to the judge, a friend to your spouse, a friend to the client, a friend to your parents. As Miller said so aptly, you have to not just be liked, but "well liked."

--- from the Sunday, September 25, 2005 New York Times, "How to Sell a Mustang (or Anything Else)," Business Section, page 4, by Ben Stein, a lawyer, writer, actor and economist.