| Quick, answer a question: Why do people buy from | | | | in the fact that the machine the rep was pitching could |
| you?Bzzzzz. Wrong, if you answered with,- "Uhhh . . ."- | | | | do enlargement and reduction. Her's couldn't, and she |
| Any description of your product or service.You get an | | | | had to personally go down to the Quick Copy to have |
| "Incomplete" if you answered,- "Because we have | | | | them done, and it was a tremendous hassle. But, the |
| great service."- "We have the best quality."This might | | | | rep had already mentioned so many other "benefits" |
| seem rather basic to some of you, but if you quit | | | | that were actually perceived negatives to the |
| reading I promise you're cheating yourself. Unless you | | | | prospect, that she didn't think it would be worth it to |
| have an inside-and-out understanding of all the possible | | | | talk about that one feature. However, in isolation, it |
| reasons people buy from you, you're likely inviting | | | | could have sold her.Even if you think you have a clue |
| objections. That's because you're probably selling what | | | | about why people buy from you, do the following |
| you want to sell, or talking about what the company's | | | | exercise. And do it often, since situations change |
| marketing department tells you are "benefits." People | | | | regularly.Here's an exercise we work on in training |
| buy for their reasons, not yours. Your goal on calls is to | | | | seminars. It lays the foundation for everything else we |
| learn, remind them of, and understand their reasons for | | | | do.1. Identify all the different levels and types of buyers |
| being interested in you, and ultimately buying.An | | | | and influencers for what you sell. Describe them by |
| ExampleLet's look at an example. A copy machine | | | | title and/or function. For example, depending on the |
| salesperson calls a smaller company, hoping to sell a | | | | organization, you might have an Advertising Director as |
| copier. He speaks with the Office Manager who | | | | the buyer. In smaller companies it could be an Office |
| typically makes decisions like this one. After asking a | | | | Manager, or maybe even the President.2. Taking each |
| few basic qualifying questions he learns the office has | | | | of these types of people, identify how they're typically |
| four people in it, and they now have a big old monster | | | | evaluated in their job. A Purchasing Manager is |
| of a copy machine that has been in the office for | | | | evaluated differently than a sales manager-the former |
| about eight years.Thinking he has a hot prospect, the | | | | on conservation, while the latter on production. Why |
| rep launches into a pitch about the latest techno-copier | | | | should we think about this? We all have a desire to |
| that does everything but write the documents for you. | | | | survive-at the very least-in our jobs, and most of us |
| He overwhelms the listener with a point-by-point | | | | want to thrive. Knowing how someone is measured in |
| description of each of the "benefits"-or what he thinks | | | | their environment provides insight to what makes them |
| are benefits (they indeed are, to some people).The | | | | tick.3. Regarding your types of product/service, what |
| prospect says, "What we have is working just fine | | | | do they want and need most? Be as specific as |
| now."He retorts with some rendition of the | | | | possible. Saying, "They want good quality," doesn't cut |
| "feel-felt-found" technique and rams into a brick wall. | | | | it. If you can't see, feel, hear, touch, or taste it, how can |
| He writes this one off, and moves to the next. Same | | | | you describe it? Good quality manifests itself in the |
| pitch, same result.What Went Wrong?So is the rep not | | | | form of "A machine that requires virtually no servicing |
| skilled at closing? How about overcoming objections? | | | | other than routine maintenance."4. Conversely, what do |
| Neither. You could make a case for him not being a | | | | they want to avoid? Again, be specific, descriptive. |
| skilled questioner, but that might not be fair. The fact is, | | | | Don't say "poor service." Better: "They hate having to |
| he doesn't have a clear understanding of why people | | | | wait three hours to get an answer to a basic technical |
| buy from him-from their perspective, not his.You see, in | | | | question."Answering these questions is just a start. |
| this case, the Office Manager was a technophobe. | | | | After you've compiled your list, then you use the |
| She just traded in her IBM Selectric for a computer for | | | | answers to create questions to determine if, indeed, |
| gosh sakes! And, she is paying $300 per year, plus a | | | | these possible benefits truly are benefits.Art Sobczak |
| per copy charge for a maintenance contract on her | | | | helps sales pros use the phone to prospect, service |
| current dinosaur copier-about half of what a new, | | | | and sell more effectively, while eliminating morale-killing |
| smaller, more reliable machine would cost to buy!And | | | | "rejection. |
| that's not all. The prospect was really quite interested | | | | |