“Making
the Sale”
A mentor of
mine used to say that the perfect marketing message and the perfect product or
service solution was one being one that appealed to the head, the heart, the
stomach and the pocketbook. He used the
derriere as a proxy for the pocketbook so he could make the analogy around body
parts. The head is the rational factor, the analysis of tangible benefits, the
“should”. The heart is the feeling, the
emotion, the how I see myself or want to be seen. The stomach is the functional
part. Does it do the job? Does it address the need just as eating addresses
hunger? And finally, the derrière--the money. Can I afford it? Does it represent a good value?
Of course,
there is one more body part that can come into play...the feet. As in the
customer using their feet to run away because you have not given them a
persuasive reason to engage with you and the product or service you are
offering. We have all seen the “feet” in
action.
So, how do
we take the feet out of the equation? How do we engage, influence, persuade and
meet the “buyer’s” needs so that we can make the sale, whether that “sale” is
for a non-profit fundraising request or a job interview or a product/service
transaction? My experience teaches me that there are five essential factors to
“making the sale.”
# 1: Establishing
Trust
Establishing trust is about you as a person more
than about the product/service you are offering to solve the need. It is often
said, “A person will not care about your product until they know that you care
about them.” There are
three ways to establish trust.
1.
Be
authentic
2.
Be
credible. Demonstrate your expertise as it relates to what is important to the
buyer
3.
Demonstrate
you care about them and the relationship and not just the transaction
a. Being
authentic
An old
adage in advertising is that “authenticity sells”...and it does! Being
authentic is about being real, being honest and not being fake. Would you buy a
product from someone you believed to be dishonest or willing to misrepresent
the truth? No one trusts someone they do
not see as being real. Showing some vulnerability is part of being authentic.
Others like knowing you do not see yourself as having all the answers or being
perfect.
b. Being
credible and demonstrating expertise
There are
several ways to demonstrate your expertise and credibility. Share trends or “facts” that relates to the industry,
best practices, product category or buying environment. This shows you have an
understanding of the space and are up to date. This can be particularly
powerful if the trend for fact reinforces something the “buyer” probably
already knows or feels. For example, if marketing a service related to the Internet,
you could provide industry research that indicates 80% of buyers, especially
buyers under age 30, have already used the Internet to research the product
they are interested in.
Another
way to show your expertise is by highlighting past accomplishments. Presenting
the accomplishment as a SPAR (situation, problem, action taken, results) paints
a picture and gives the person some context for evaluating you and your
expertise.
c.
Building the relationship
To build
the relationship, you can first show common interests. This could be growing up
in a similar area, having similar hobbies, or caring about the same professional
topics. You learn of these common interests by asking questions...about the
person’s work experience, about how they spend their time outside of work,
about their interests, about why they chose to do what they do, etc., and by
listening. You are looking for points of connection.
But, be
careful not to come across as an inquisitor with the questions. The questions need
to flow as part of the conversation and not be a countdown. You are relating
their experiences to yours. You “tell” when asked or when your “sharing”
reinforces the point being made. Building the relationship is about the other
person, not about you; and it is not about the transaction.
Sharing
information of the type mentioned in “b” above is a key part of relationship
building. By sharing information the buyer finds helpful or interesting you are
positioning yourself as a trusted advisor who cares about their success.
# 2:
Answer the “why” question first
One of
the biggest mistakes new salespeople make is focusing on how great their
product is. They love to tell about all the product features that make it
different, and by extension, better than that of the competition. But, the
customer really does not care about features. They care about the benefits
those features deliver. More specifically, they ask, "how does this
product solve my problem?" If you
are the product, as in a job interview or if you are representing a product or
service, be prepared to answer the “why” questions.
· Why is this important?
· Why is your product going to solve
my problem better than the competitive product?
· Why should I care?
The “why”
question is also important to start to explore the emotion in the
decision-making.
# 3:
Paint a picture (tell a story)
People
learn and take in information differently. Some are auditory learners, some are
tactical learners, some are experiential learners and some are visual learners.
This is why information we try to communicate sometimes sticks with someone and
has meaning and why, at other times, it does not and is quickly forgotten. The difference between the two could win or lose
you the job or the sale.
To create
persuasive answers and share persuasive information, you will want to go beyond
the numbers to prove your case. Hard facts and logic are important and appeal
to the rational decision-making process. Remember, the head! But to most
effectively communicate your message you will want to provide examples that can
be visualized by your prospect or buyer. Use details, that can be seen,
touched, felt, (and maybe tasted?). In your description of the benefit, use
words that help you paint a picture. Even an analogy or metaphor can help, as
long as it's not too cliché.
And, don't
count on thinking up these examples on the spot. Be prepared with least some of
this persuasive vivid language ahead of time.
Paint a picture of what success looks likes...of what it will feel like
when the problem is solved...of what others will think and feel when the
problem is solved by your product or service.
# 4: Leverage
emotion (appeal to the heart)
New
research has confirmed that the driving force behind decision-making comes from
a part of the brain called the limbic system. This is the part of the brain where
emotions are processed.
In the business
world, being rational is often seen as a sign of professionalism. We try to kid
ourselves into thinking that we are rational beings when it comes to
decision-making. Yet emotions can also be a real asset. Another old adage that is still relevant and
true and expressed in many forms... “People buy on emotion but justify the
purchase with rationale.”
Not only
should your message have an emotional component but you should try to engage with
your prospect emotionally. Painting a
picture or telling a story that includes how you will feel is one way. Another
way to do this is to take rational, objective sorts of words and replace them
with more emotive ones that connect better with their emotions. “Powerful”,
“successful”, “provocative” are words
that carry a lot of emotion. Develop your list of words that conjure up
specific feelings and incorporate them into your presentations and proposals.
It is a subtle change but one that plays to a different part of the brain and
the decision-making process.
Aside
from these, you will want to use emotion to be more in tune with your prospect
or buyer. For instance, if your prospect
seems quieter, perhaps a bit down, you don't want to knock them over with super
high energy fast-talk. Instead, take a quieter but positive approach. It is
important to remember that you are still working on making a connection and developing
a relationship. Being sensitive to the “space” your prospect is occupying is
important.
I have
forgotten the author but not the quote that speaks exactly to this point: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what
you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
# 5. Present a strong value proposition
Value means much more than price
although price or cost is certainly a key part of the equation. And, value is
in the eyes of the beholder since no two people or buyers will necessarily
judge the same features/benefits to have the priority. In fact, what is thought
to be a benefit to one person or buyer might not be seen as benefit at all to
another. For example, a product feature that allows a container to be easily
and conveniently opened might be seen as a negative to a mother with small
children who needs to keep the contents of that container out of the hands and
mouths of your children.
Not only is price relative to the
benefits being delivered, it is relative to other competitive products and
substitutes. So, the pricing decision cannot be made in a vacuum. But, it must
make sense to the buyer.
Incorporating these five factors into your message or product/service
solution will keep “the feet” out of the equation and help you make the sale!
