SELL THE NEED

SELL THE NEED

The obvious nature of sales training removes the need for me to explain why this post is important. But with that being said, I have found that with so many different selling philosophies floating around, it can be incredibly difficult to apply any of them. To avoid becoming another proverbial car in this mental pileup, I will keep my comments as short and sweet as possible.

Among the most core doctrines in business, is that of creating a need, not a want. Whether you are selling anything from your dream, to toenail clippers, to investments you need to focus on the need for this thing, and not the item itself. Remember that the vast majority of people buy emotionally, and later justify logically. This is done through setting the scene, and selling the dream.

1). Establish motivation:

Why are you talking with this person to begin with? If they reached out to you, ask them pointedly as much. If they aren't a good fit - immediately but politely discontinue the call. You can't force blood from a turnip. If they are a good fit, move on to the next step.

2). Force the prospect to look the problem square in the face:

Impact questions like "How long has this been going on?" or, "What happens if this doesn't change in the next six months?" "What if we can't solve your problem?" can be very uncomfortable at the moment. Consider the last conversation you had with a physician. If you want to be compensated like a doctor, you need to learn how to ask questions like a doctor.

3). Frame the product or service, by building the ideal outcome.

Frames create focus. After what should have been an uncomfortable last step, the buyer is naturally ready for some type of a contrast. Be prepared to provide this by asking more questions like "In a perfect world, what are you hoping to accomplish?", "If you could wave a magic wand…?", etc. Now this is where ethics come in, if your product or service will actually solve the problem, and help provide the end state, you need to start the closing process. Don't launch into a diatribe of how great your widget is. Create urgency by contrasting their pain with your solution.

A few final notes. Grab a sticky note and divide it down the center. Labeled 'Questions' on one side and 'Statements' on the other. Make a check on either side respectively every time you speak. By the end of the conversation, you should have significantly more checks in the question side than the statement side. Every time you get an objection, write it down, find an answer to it, and practice that word track. Salespeople are often like machine gunners, hugging the gun to their hip and hoping for the best. This makes no sense because they are facing the same target time and again. Be a sniper. Precision retorts, that you have historically proven to work.

Sales is a volume game, and the nature of a numbers game is that rejection is part of the process. It is hard to not take it personally, but understand that emotional energy is finite and necessary is sales. The more time you mentally devote to one interaction, the less energy you have to put into the next.

There is plenty more that I could delve into more detail on, with relation to this subject, and perhaps I will at a later date. For now though, this is enough information to put you ahead of the power curve.

"Without action, the best intentions in the world are nothing more than that; intentions."

-Jordan Belfort