You’re an experienced salesperson; you’ve listened carefully to what your customers are saying, you know what they think they need and want, and you can make recommendations that will surpass their expectations, resulting in them being increasingly eager to place an order with you.
But do you think that’s really all there is to the profession of selling? While your goal is to establish your product’s value by presenting the benefits that match your client’s needs, the secondary aspect is to encourage the desire to have it right away. It’s often easy to get a client to agree that your product or service is something they’d like – the key is helping them see why they must have it immediately.
In order to do this well, there are a few rules to be learned. Keep in mind that people retain just 20% of what they hear and 50% of what they see, but up to 90% of what they can touch or feel. Accordingly, a verbal presentation should be so effective that the 20% who remember it will make a buying decision. If possible, it should be backed up with something to read or take away, reaching 50% and ideally, provide something tangible they can touch, in order to reach as many people as possible.
Obviously, it’s important to show a potential customer the benefits you offer physically, when possible, so they can touch it and feel the value. Humans, after all, place more trust in what they see and touch than what they hear. As the old saying goes, “seeing is believing.” And then some!
How can you make this work for you if you don’t sell a product so much as a service? What about accountants, dentists, financial advisors or lawyers? In these types of situations, a professional needs to “be” the product. Like it or not, appearances are important when it comes to selling and there is a certain image conventionally expected from professionals.
Other than personal appearance, what can service professionals offer that make them the product? The sight of diplomas on the wall, brochures, business cards or even testimonials to read on a well designed website. There are a myriad of ways to enhance the image of a business, it just takes a little creativity.
In addition, it’s imperative to remember that emotion is the ruling factor in decision making, particularly when it comes to sales. Therefore, look for the emotional benefits when you’re reaching out to potential clients. Logic, after all, exists in order to justify emotional responses.
If a client doesn’t believe in you, or have their emotions triggered in some way, the sale is already lost. No amount of rational debate can make up for the instance where emotional needs haven’t been met.
Suggest and demonstrate products or services that offer benefits that meet or exceed what your clients consider valuable. Provide recommendations tailored specifically to those needs. Understand that your clients need to see and feel more than what a product or service alone may be able to fulfill. Finally, set out to offer emotional value and not just logical reasoning.
When these pieces of the puzzle all come together, you’ll have created desire. Desire for what you offer, and the urgent belief it’s worth possessing without delay. That’s the key to winning at sales.
