Seth Godin's recent column on Intangibles was great. As a matter of fact, I haven't disagreed in more than two years with anything he has written about selling. Today he provided many examples - great examples - of how your intangibles create value. I'd like to explain how your salespeople can uncover these - and other - reasons why prospects would pay more to do business with you.
It all begins with the environment your salespeople create with their prospects. I'm talking about the relationship your salespeople develop, their ability to show they care about their prospect and the role they play in their business, and their ability to create trust. It is only in this environment that your salespeople can ask dozens of good, tough, timely questions.
Those questions have to be better and tougher than anyone else's. Here's an example and you can apply this example to your business by substituting what your prospects usually decide to do for the one in this example, and then punch holes as I do below:
Your Salesperson: It sounds like you've determined that you need to advertise on the web rather than in print, but I'm curious - how did you reach that decision?
Prospect: Well, we just know that more people are on the web than reading print publications.
Your Salesperson: It's true - sometimes. Tell me, who do you need to reach?
Prospect: Our target audience is men 45-70.
Your Salesperson: Why are they your target?
Prospect: They always have been.
Your Salesperson: But aren't women more likely to buy it for their men than men are to buy it for themselves?
Prospect: Great question. I guess they are.
Your Salesperson: And what happens if you fail to target the right audience?
Prospect: We'll waste our ad money.
Your Salesperson: How much would you guess you wasted over the last five years?
Prospect: Most of it.
Your Salesperson: And how much is that?
Prospect: Several hundred thousand dollars.
Your Salesperson: Is that alot of money for you?
Prospect: Yes - it's huge.
Your Salesperson: Would you like to fix that problem?
Prospect: Yes, very much.
Your Salesperson: Would you like my help?
Prospect: Yes.
Your Salesperson: Are you willing to spend a little more with me to get the problem fixed, the right way, once and for all?
Prospect: Yes, certainly, if it solves the problem.
So rather than presenting how great your ability is to place web advertising, and rather than providing prices for web advertising, the salesperson asks questions to identify a problem (wrong demographic) the prospect wasn't aware of along with a compelling reason (wasting ad money) to do business with this salesperson alone (SOB Quality) - because of the questions that were asked. If the salesperson now recommends print advertising as a solution to the problem, it will be accepted as expert advice in the context of a problem to be solved.
How is this different from what your salespeople are doing?
How to Find the Compelling Reasons Behind Seth Godin's Intangibles - To learn more about this author, visit Dave Kurlan's Website.
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Anne Barr
Anne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations,
networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business
ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Dave Kurlan
(Visit Dave's Website)
Dave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of
Objective Management Group, Inc., the
industry leader in sales assessments and
sales force evaluations, and the CEO of
David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a
consulting firm specializing in sales
force development.
Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc.
Magazine's Conference on Growing the
Company, the Sales & Marketing Management
Conference and the Gazelles Sales &
Marketing Summit.
He has been featured on radio and TV,
including World Business Review with
General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc.
Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales &
Marketing Management Magazine and
Incentive Magazine.
He is the author of Mindless Selling and
Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales
Superstar by Using What You Already Know
about the Game of Baseball.
He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary
recruiting process for hiring great
salespeople, and he writes Understanding
the Sales Force, a popular business Blog
and is a contributing author to The Death
of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways
to Improve Your Life, Volume 2.
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Understanding the Sales Force - Objective Management Group, Inc. is the pioneer and industry leader in sales force evaluations and sales candidate screening. Spearheaded by leading sales industry expert, Dave Kurlan, Objective Management Group, Inc. can help you measure sales effectiveness, execution and potential.
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