Make More Sales By Avoiding The Product Trap
Make More Sales By Avoiding The Product Trap
You will know if you are falling into the product trap if:
* When you are having a sales conversation, you are passionate about your products and services.
* Your sales conversations are focused around telling people about your products and services. You think that the more they know about your products and services, the more they will see how great they are and want to buy them.
* Your marketing materials and website are all about your products and services.
* You define yourself and what you do by your products and services.
If you are selling for a company, it is highly likely that the company has fallen into the product trap too. Take a fresh look at all their marketing materials to see if the focus is on their products and services. Another sign is that they focus on giving you product training so you know all about the features and benefits of all their products.
So what is wrong with the product trap you may ask? Well if you, or the company you work for, have fallen into the product trap, there will be a direct negative impact on your sales results. Also, selling will be a lot harder than it needs to be. This is because, if you have fallen into the product trap, you will consequently be selling the wrong thing. You will be selling your products and services and your products and services are not what people buy.
People do not buy your products and services. They buy an outcome that they want and your products and services simply play a part in delivering that outcome. You don't buy a drill because you want a drill. You buy a drill because you want the outcome, the hole, which the drill delivers. Similarly people want to buy an outcome from you. Hence to make it easy for them to buy an outcome from you, the first thing you can do is to stop falling into the product trap.
So if you are falling into the product trap (and you are definitely with the majority if you are) here are some tips for getting out of it:
* Get passionate about the outcomes and end results you achieve for your clients. To do this, brainstorm the outcomes and end results your products and services produce. Also ask your clients about the outcomes and results your products and services have produced and the difference they have made. Spend the time to get really connected to these outcomes as the more you get connected, the more passionate you will become.
* Find and learn a simple sales process that is focused on selling an outcome versus products and services. If you have such a sales process you will automatically avoid falling into the product trap.
* Change your marketing materials and website so that they are focused on the outcomes you produce versus your products and services.
* Define yourself and what you do by the outcomes you produce.
If you are selling for a company that has fallen into the product trap, ask for outcome focused marketing materials. In the meantime avoid giving your prospects any product focused marketing materials. Also, when your company is giving you product feature training ask what outcomes and end results these features produce.
In summary, first recognize if you are in this product trap and then if you are, commit today to taking immediate action using the tips above to get out of it. My promise to you is that you will see an immediate impact on your sales results and you will close more sales. It really is that simple.
(c) 2008, Tessa Stowe, Sales Conversation. WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEBSITE? Yes, you can, provided you include the copyright statement and the byline below. All links must be made live.
Make More Sales By Avoiding The Product Trap - To learn more about this author, visit Tessa Stowe's Website.
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The majority of salespeople fall into the product trap when selling their products and services. Are you falling into this product trap too?
You will know if you are falling into the product trap if:
* When you are having a sales conversation, you are passionate about your products and services.
* Your sales conversations are focused around telling people about your products and services. You think that the more they know about your products and services, the more they will see how great they are and want to buy them.
* Your marketing materials and website are all about your products and services.
* You define yourself and what you do by your products and services.
If you are selling for a company, it is highly likely that the company has fallen into the product trap too. Take a fresh look at all their marketing materials to see if the focus is on their products and services. Another sign is that they focus on giving you product training so you know all about the features and benefits of all their products.
So what is wrong with the product trap you may ask? Well if you, or the company you work for, have fallen into the product trap, there will be a direct negative impact on your sales results. Also, selling will be a lot harder than it needs to be. This is because, if you have fallen into the product trap, you will consequently be selling the wrong thing. You will be selling your products and services and your products and services are not what people buy.
People do not buy your products and services. They buy an outcome that they want and your products and services simply play a part in delivering that outcome. You don't buy a drill because you want a drill. You buy a drill because you want the outcome, the hole, which the drill delivers. Similarly people want to buy an outcome from you. Hence to make it easy for them to buy an outcome from you, the first thing you can do is to stop falling into the product trap.
So if you are falling into the product trap (and you are definitely with the majority if you are) here are some tips for getting out of it:
* Get passionate about the outcomes and end results you achieve for your clients. To do this, brainstorm the outcomes and end results your products and services produce. Also ask your clients about the outcomes and results your products and services have produced and the difference they have made. Spend the time to get really connected to these outcomes as the more you get connected, the more passionate you will become.
* Find and learn a simple sales process that is focused on selling an outcome versus products and services. If you have such a sales process you will automatically avoid falling into the product trap.
* Change your marketing materials and website so that they are focused on the outcomes you produce versus your products and services.
* Define yourself and what you do by the outcomes you produce.
If you are selling for a company that has fallen into the product trap, ask for outcome focused marketing materials. In the meantime avoid giving your prospects any product focused marketing materials. Also, when your company is giving you product feature training ask what outcomes and end results these features produce.
In summary, first recognize if you are in this product trap and then if you are, commit today to taking immediate action using the tips above to get out of it. My promise to you is that you will see an immediate impact on your sales results and you will close more sales. It really is that simple.
(c) 2008, Tessa Stowe, Sales Conversation. WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEBSITE? Yes, you can, provided you include the copyright statement and the byline below. All links must be made live.
Make More Sales By Avoiding The Product Trap - To learn more about this author, visit Tessa Stowe's Website.
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave 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. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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